Chapter 17

I emerged from the dungeon a short time later, significantly more worse for wear than when I had entered. Even though my mana had been running on near empty after the fight with the infant dragon, it was now about 1/3rd of the way full. On my trek up the floors, I had mainly relied on my swordsmanship to deal with any monsters blocking my path, which allowed me to recover quickly. I found it interesting that despite spamming magic a lot, I never felt the effects of mind down, which led me to believe that I won't ever suffer from mind down. That was until today at least.

As my magic started to bottom out, I could feel myself slowly but surely being pulled into unconsciousness. I guessed that I had never felt the effects before due to my magic regenerating naturally, sort of like if I had the Spirit Healing development ability. As long as I don't use magic constantly, then I basically won't ever run out of mana in a battle. I was glad that I found out that I am still susceptible to mind down now instead of on the deep floors. Anyway, I didn't have too many stones to sell this time, so I directly bypassed the guild and began to walk back home, the sun still in the sky, but closer to setting than to noon.

As I walked I thought more about my stats and when I want to level up. I could feel that I was boosted significantly by my battle with the infant dragon, but not enough to launch me to S rank in all my stats. I could tell that it will still be a while before I am even at S-999 in all my stats, not to mention SSS-1100+. I, of course, won't level up at just S rank, but I need to find a way to boost my stats quickly, without bringing too much risk to myself. I don't care about breaking any records, but I also don't want to sit stagnantly for a long period of time.

That thought made me pause in my tracks, 'A way to summon a higher level monster, no matter what floor of the dungeon I am on, Juggernauts', I thought gleefully. I would make no money from the juggernauts, and it would be dangerous to fight one, I am sure that they can definitely help me increase my acquisition of strength. The only problem right now is that I feel it is a bit risky to do with my current level of strength. I would have to test it on the first floor of the dungeon first. 'These are all things for future me to consider' I thought as I made it back to the shop, seeing one or two customers inside.

It was a bit strange to actually see customers in the shop because there were never any when I normally come and go. I leave before the store opens and come back after it is already closed, or I am just in my room, not paying attention to what is going on in the shop above me. As the customers left I entered the store. As I opened the door I saw Naaza with her back turned to me.

"Sorry, no more customers tonight. We just closed," she explained as she turned around and saw me, "Ohh, it's just you Augustus... AUGUSTUS!"

I was confused by her outburst, then looked down at my shredded armor and clothes. In the low light, it was impossible to see if there were any wounds beneath my armor.

"I'm not injured," I said, "I just need a new set of armor and clothes,"

I showed Naaza that I wasn't injured and walked to my room, opening the hatch and hopping the short distance down. I began to think once more about what abilities I wanted to gain. 'I feel like I'm pretty good for now, but I still want one or two more abilities before I spend time trying to crack the high-tier abilities' I thought to myself as I lay down in my bed. I held out my hand toward the ceiling of my room and began to envision a ray of holy light, strong enough to blow monsters apart.

I wasn't sure exactly how it will work, but shouldn't Holy magic hard counter at least some of the monsters in the dungeon? I was willing to test this theory that I had just thought up randomly by learning Holy Cannon, a basic Holy magic spell. After Holy Cannon, I would move on to a more long-term project. For now, I will just work on Earth Manipulation and Holy Cannon. The half-complete magic circle of the spell shone over and over as it constantly broke, then reformed. I didn't stop practicing it until the sun was well into the sky, but I decided to go to sleep because it was too late into the day to sleep.

I rolled out of bed and went to put on my clothes, but remembered that they are shredded, the same as my armor. 'I guess I'm going shopping' I thought as I threw on some old clothes that weren't as comfortable or stylish as my previous outfit. I dropped my sword into my Spatial Storage before exiting my room and walking out the front of the store. Miach and Naaza seemed surprised to see me climb out of my room so late in the day.

"It's good to see you up," Miach said with an easy smile.

"Yeah, I need to get some new clothes and armor, so I figured this is a good time," I said with a shrug, cursing as I remembered that my shoes are destroyed as well.

Miach offered me a pair of his own shoes, but they were a bit too small for me. Instead, I just wrapped my feet in some cloth and headed out, determined to buy multiple sets of clothes and just keep them in my Spatial Storage from now on. I stood, preparing to leave when I saw Miach and Naaza come to the door with me. Seeing my confusion Naaza spoke, as she did I noticed that she was standing closer to Miach than usual.

"We'll go with you, it's your first time shopping in the city. We know all of the best spots, so it's best that we all go together this time,"

"Exactly," Miach agreed.

Naaza's tail wagged ever so slightly as Miach spoke his agreement. "Has she already fallen for him?" I wondered as I watched Naaza's actions. I smiled as I came to the conclusion that she definitely was, probably only recently though. I would be happy for the two if they got together, but I'm not sure if it will actually happen. As Miach bent down to tie his shoe I gave Naaza a big thumbs up and an exaggerated wink, gesturing to Miach. She blushed slightly but gave me a thumbs-up in return.

I chuckled at the girl's antics, reading myself to spend the rest of the day shopping with the two. It was our first outing while we were all together, usually, I am off on my own and Naaza usually stays in the shop most days. Miach is the supplier, going out to buy groceries and potion ingredients once per week so that we stay stocked up on goods and food. Soon we were off into the city, heading toward the tower of Babel.

"If you want armor, the Hephaestus familia is the one to buy from, however, they are a bit more expensive," Naaza explained helpfully, "Babel with also have clothes for you to buy, either custom or right off the shelf,"

I nodded along as the two pointed out important locations and shops along the path, sometimes we even took detours so that I could "experience the city properly" according to Miach. As we reached Babel and walked amongst the floors I really reconsidered my priorities.

"I need to become a crafter," I said, looking at a price tag of 100,000,000 Valis on a sword inside the window of a high-end shop.

We walked by that shop, of course, and headed to a cheaper option which allowed me to buy a full set of armor for only around ~100k Valis, leaving me with only 1/3rd of my wealth remaining. 'I really need to become a crafter,' I thought with more conviction as I realized that arms and armor are where most of the income of adventurers go to. Plus, if I can gain some sort of crafting skill then I may be able to make a bit of extra money on the side.

(Pic of Armor Here)

After buying my armor, I used the last of my money to order 10 sets of classic Zahard clothes, a large red cloak along with a black shirt and black pants. With that done I waited for my clothes to be made before storing them in my Spatial Storage and heading back home with Miach and Naaza.