26 Dungeon - Seventh Floor
His technique was strong, yet dodging the attacks of several monsters close to his speed at the same time, Haru felt pressured to end the fight as soon as possible.
Now at a stalemate in combat, Haru observed the monsters once again. Now that the stamina problem was solved thanks to his technique, another problem had appeared. If he wanted to use his sword to the best of its possibility, then he needed to possess enough strength and speed. So that he could cut through their skin and meat powerfully while avoiding the attacks of the remaining monsters.
He knew that would become a problem soon if already on the 6th floor Haru could notice this. Yet he had the confidence to be saved in case of danger. Beyond that, he felt able to exceed his limits once again.
'Even if my parameters can't increase at a shocking rate, all I have to do is find myself in dangerous situations all the time to grow faster than any average adventurer..'
While this thought imprinted on Haru's mind, he dodged a blow directed his throat. It seemed almost ironic, but he had the idea that if being at a disadvantage was all it took to earn more excilia, then he would fulfil the desire of whoever created this system.
He would prove his worth, so much so that he would not only go beyond the limits but destroy them on his way. The security in the system after updating the parameters, was nothing but increased. He had understood that given the increase in parameters, not only could he regain a part of his forces instantaneously and without a price, but he could also surprise a monster too complicated to beat. If there was one thing that Haru knew, was that the surprise effect led to an irregular situation where the monster could decide to either defend itself, attack, or remain confused. But whatever it could do, it would still lend Haru an advantage, key to winning most fights.
Dodging yet another blow, Haru returned his sword to the counterattack position. Even if barely two days had passed, he had managed to consolidate the idea behind the technique in his mind, assimilating it with ease. What was complicated for Haru, was figuring out how to improve himself over and over again. That would be a long process for average adventurers. However, he was counting on the effect of his skill to show him where to direct his sword, yet that did not mean he couldn't get to the same destination on his own.
Using his counterattack, after about a couple of minutes where he could not see a single opening to do so, he had finally managed to get rid of one of the three War Shadow.
Although they did not pay much attention to the defence, as soon as Haru was close enough to them, they did not hesitate to throw themselves with all their might against him, trying to sink their claws into his flesh. That was why Haru, once made his horizontal cut, had to kick the ground to move quickly forward.
During the fight, another thought came to his mind. Since it was necessary to dodge in a rather 'acrobatic' way to evade all the blows, Haru would need someone who could explain to him how. Unlike body training, he did not know anything about acrobatics. All he could do was the wheel and the somersault, rather useless in a fight where it was necessary to have impressed in his mind how to manage his body in the air and perfect control on how to land.
However, He could not think for long. In no time at all, the monsters had reached him, ready once again to attack. Before they could, however, Haru used his sword to directly aim for the beheading of one of the two monsters, but before the blade could cross its neck, Haru noticed that his attack had failed.
'It won't be so easy..'
Backing from the failure of his attack while avoiding that of the other monster not busy dodging, Haru had no choice but to counterattack for the umpteenth time. Although he did not feel exhausted, he felt the weight of the sword on his shoulders, meaning his body still required much more endurance to allow him ignorance towards it.
With this cycle repeating, Haru managed to kill the remaining two War Shadow. It was not easy because of their speed, and this made things more difficult for him as If he met other War Shadows, perhaps in a group of 5 or 6, Haru feared the fight would be tough for him, even more, to face as exhausted. The difference from normal relied on the information that the more Haru got tired, the less he could use his maximum speed and strength, and also his reaction speed would decrease a lot. However, He convinced himself that being in such a situation would be enough to overcome his limits for the second time.
But knowing that he could not afford to rest too much, Haru removed these thoughts from his mind as he proceeded without hesitation into the deeper parts of the sixth floor.
---
Haru could call himself lucky. On his way to the seventh floor, he had noticed that the Frog Shooters by themselves were nothing dangerous. Once one avoided their tongue attack, the frogs became easy to deal with, and so in a short time, magic stones belonging to frogs had already filled part of the bag. So far, Haru has successfully defeated 29 Frog Shooters, 34 goblins, 30 kobolds, and 10 War Shadow.
But if he had to say it all, he felt none of them posed a real threat to him except the War Shadow, who could put him in danger if packed in groups of 4 or 5, and it was only with them that Haru imagined he had received a better than average increase in parameters. Easy-to-defeat monsters helped little in increasing his parameters, which is why once killed, Haru rested when he felt the need to do so, differently from the War Shadow as they burned much more of his energy.
But Haru could afford to reflect on this precisely because once again, he was crossing stairs leading him to what was the 7th floor.
---
As light spilled down from the ceiling, lighting up the pale green walls around him, Haru stood in a square space within the dungeon called room.
But as soon as he entered the room, Haru could immediately notice another of the monsters he had been able to study in detail during his lessons. Four legs, two thin arms, and two big eyes. Its body looking like a giant red ant, yet it was named Killer Ant.
Different from an average ant, however, it is as tall as Haru was when it hoisted its upper body up, pivoting around its hunched-over midsection. It's a monster that first shows up at the beginning of the seventh floor. Haru heard it was called a "newbie killer" similar War Shadow on the sixth level.
It obtained that nickname due to its thick skin and strength that puts lower-level monsters like goblins to shame. Its body was so durable that it might as well be armour.
'The best way to fight this monster...'
On this monster, unlike most others, there seemed to be a myriad of useful information that could be very helpful to him. Trying to avoid the latter's detection, Haru stopped in the distance to observe it, to confirm what he had learned briefly.
Adventurers, used to the monsters down to the fifth level, did not expect these ants to be all that smart and tend to underestimate them. Yet Haru, at the vision of its four sharp, warped and curved claws at the ends of its arms, he could understand how these deadly weapons could be dangerous.
He also knew that half-hearted attacks would bounce right off the living shell, and piercing that outer layer was no easy task.
'I have no choice but to aim directly at the space between the solid shells at the joints, to hit the soft flesh beneath, without giving it the chance to act at all.'
Eina had taken care to specify it very well. The monster known as Killer Ant was not an opponent that one could kill with ease. It also possessed another skill, calling their companions. Or to be more precise, when they felt in danger, they released some pheromone that humans couldn't smell to gather their friends.
Having refreshed his mind on how he should act to defeat the monster, Haru heard it snap its mandibles together, chewing the air.
Knowing making it feel immediately in danger would cause the arrival of its companions, Haru chose to approach slowly so that the Ant could recognize him as prey, and the moment he entered its line of sight, he and the monster's eyes met. The former with eyes full of determination, while the latter did not show a single emotion if not the desire to chew on his flash.
Having to cut between the joints, Haru wasted no time. Unlike the usual, however, what he wanted was not to cut the monster in half, as he was sure he would not succeed with his current parameters. What he needed was not power, but precision, and he was fortunate that his skill [Swordsman] was already in rank H, allowing him greater accuracy with the sword.
'If I miss this chance, not even the updated parameters would save me. This time the danger is genuine.'
By hardening his expression, Haru knew this was true. Although with average monsters there was no real problem, Killer Ants were another exception that could put him in danger. If he left enough time for the latter to call its companions in fact, Haru would have found himself in a short time an unusual swarm of monsters, surrounded in the way as Liliruca Arde in the anime.
These thoughts forming in his mind, however, disappeared a moment later. Having enough proximity to attack, Haru did not hesitate to do so. Knowing it was smart, Haru knew it might even be able to emit the dangerous sound during its death, which is why Haru chose to aim for its throat right after he was sure it could not escape anymore.
With the monster charging back at him, its right arm raised high, Haru found the perfect opportunity to aim for the weak point, and with satisfaction, he could feel that his sword had reached the intended destination. Thanks to the ability [Swordsman], but especially the control he had achieved over the sword in the last few days as real combat experience had done most of the work.
But the fight wasn't over yet. Seeing purple liquid dribbling out of the open wound, an insectoid expression of surprise at this turn of events was worn on the monster's head as before it could try to emit the sound in help for companions, Haru had destroyed all its chances of doing this. Aiming two seconds later for the neck, he cut off the head with its incredulous expression still shown as it crashed on the dungeon floor.
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(Hope you enjoyed this chap, I spent a lot on this! After the seventh floor we'll have the full time-skip regarding the Dungeon and his overall growth, after that we'll focus on the blacksmithing and last but not least on the training. After these time-skips, the real plot will begin. To support me, please join my discord.gg/y8VBZAp)
