16 Survival In The Progressive Dungeon
(Floor #87)
3 hours later...
Katsuya's eyes slowly opened in confusion. He quickly sat up and couldn't remember anything that had happened, his memory was all foggy.
His body felt somewhat tired and weak.
"Sora, Materialize."
There was a bright flash of blue light that came from the side. The light faded away and white haired girl who wore a leather jacket stood there.
It was Sora; she walked over to Katsuya and kneeled down, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"What happened?" Katsuya asked.
"Alot. You were killed and knocked off the bridge. After that, you fell into the gleaming water below. You were revived and you swam back up to the surface. When you climbed out of the water you passed out."
Pieces of his memory began coming back to him.
"Oh, I remember now. We're on a lower floor now, aren't we?"
He was correct. After being knocked off the bridge, he fell down multiple floors. They were now on the 87th floor.
"Yes, we are." Sora replied.
Katsuya grabbed his head as he still felt somewhat tired. There was a pressuring stress on his mind, he was at a loss of what to do. Going down to the lower floors was out of the question due to the monsters only being stronger down there. Going up was just as hard as he knew avoiding monsters would be difficult. Even if he did happen to sneak past every monster, there was no snaking past the boss room. Sure, he had gotten way stronger than he used to be but, he was nowhere near the level of being able to solo a Silver-rank boss.
Katsuya did the only thing he could, he asked Sora for help.
"Sora, do you have any Ideas of what I could do? Anything at all?"
She placed her pointer finger on her chin as she stood up, thinking to herself followed by a "Hmmmm…."
An Idea came to her mind.
"Well, I could try to see where the nearest loot chest is and lead you to it. The weapon inside may give you a chance against a monster. Hold on, let me scan the area."
Her eyes began glowing red as she turned her head, looking in every direction. After doing so, her eyes stopped glowing and went back to normal.
She spoke.
"I'll show you the directions. I'm going to de-materialize."
Her body slowly fading away, followed by glowing blue pixels.
Katsuya stood up and began seeing a blue direction arrow in his sight. It was just another perk from having an A.I
Sora was able to make phrases, notes, directions and many other things appear in his view, in order to help him out.
Katsuya turned his head following the arrows as he began walking.
They pointed to a large tunnel.
At first, he didn't feel safe entering, but he trusted Sora so he went in.
As he walked in, his vision began to darken because of the lack of light.
"How am I supposed to see?" Katsuya asked.
Sora's voice then replied inside his head.
"Right, sorry. I'll do something about it."
Suddenly, his eyes began glowing green and he was now able to see everything as clear as day.
"Thank you, Sora. You're a big help."
There was silence before she replied.
"J-just focus on following the directions."
"I got it." said Katsuya.
(20 minutes later…)
Katsuya had finally arrived where the directions had led him. He now stood in front of a chest that had a blue-colored light shining from the cracks of it.
Blue= Epic Quality
Knowing that it was going to be a good quality weapon, Katsuya kneeled down and opened the chest. As he did so, the light faded away.
Inside was a long blue-bladed katana. Next to it, was a chain necklace that had a shiny red gem on it.
He stared at it and a screen, describing the items qualities came into view.
{ Item Type: Enhancement
Upon wearing, all of your stats except for 'Intelligence' will be increased by 50%
When the gem is removed, this item will not be able to increase your stats but the gem will still be usable. The gem can increase a magic attack effectiveness x16}
"This will be really useful in the future." Katsuya thought to himself.
He placed the necklace around his neck then picked up the sword from the chest. Almost immediately, he was able to feel the difference from the necklace. His body felt lighter and his movements felt faster.
He lifted the sword and stared at its shiny tip. A screen came into view.
{Weapon: Atk: 90,000
40% chance of stun
Durability: 78
Moves: Sharpen- Upon activation, this weapons attack will double for ten minutes. Cooldown Time: 1 day
To activate, say the moves name.}
"This is nice. Can't wait to use it."
Now with a necklace that increases his stats and a powerful high-quality sword, he felt that they would allow him to be able to go up against a Gold-rank monster.
His stomach began to rumble and he felt fatigued as if he hadn't eaten for a whole day.
The rumbling in his stomach turned to aching and burning.
He kneeled down, holding his stomach.
"ah..What is this?"
Sora's Voice then replied.
"It has been seven hours since you fell into the depths of this dungeon. You're hungry and dehydrated. That is why your body feels weak and your stomach hurts. You'll need to find food and water if you plan on surviving."
Katsuya slowly stood up as he carried the sword.
"You're right. But, where would I be able to find any of that?"
His eyes suddenly shot open widely and he came up with a solution.
Katsuya remembered the giant pond of gleaming water he fell into. He also thought that maybe there would be fish in it.
"Sora, show me directions back to where we came from."
After letting out a sigh, her voice replied.
"As you wish."
After a twenty minted walk back, he had arrived at the pond.
"Let's see if I'm right about there being fish." he thought to himself.
He walked over to the gleaming water and stared into the depths of it. Sure enough, there were golden colored fish swimming all around. Katsuya lifted his sword and held it in the air.
Swip.
He gracefully stabbed the blade into the water, hitting one of them.
Katsuya lifted the katana from the water and pulled the fish off of the blade.
He now had food and water but there was a problem, he didn't know how to start a fire.
Katsuya then asked for Sora's help once more.
"Sora, teach me how to make a fire."
___________________
(Dungeon Entrance)
A man wearing a business suit arrived, followed by a group of adventurers. As he stood next to the pair of stairs leading into the ground, he called for two of the people to come forward.
"Nari and Kenshin, I permit you two go down 70 floors. If there's no sign of the boy, then go ahead and fall back."
Both Nari and Kenshin stepped forward.
Nari was a girl with long red hair and yellow eyes. She wore a long black dress and carried around a long blue tip spear.
Despite looking as if she belonged in an old vampire movie, she was among the elite adventurers. Because of her will to deliver judgment on monsters, she earned the nickname of "Karma"
{ Name: Nari | Guild: Beast Slayer | Class: Fighter/Mage | Rank: Legendary | Number: 8 }
Kenshin was a man with long black hair and black-colored eyes. He wore a grey-hooded jacket and black pants. He was also among the elite adventurers.
{ Name: Kenshin | Guild: Beast Slayer | Class: Fighter/ Assassin |
Rank: Legendary | Number: 2}
The man in the tuxedo turned around and started speaking to the rest of the adventurers there.
"The rest of you will guard this entrance and make sure no monsters come out."
The man began walking off as he shot a glance over to Nari.
"I'll be taking my leave now. Don't get carried away with killing monsters, just find the boy."
Nari wore a grin on her face as her eyes flickered red.
"I can't make any promises. I will carry out Judgment on every monster I come across."
The man let out a sigh and continued his walk away.
"Whatever you say, just find the boy."
Nari placed her hand on Kenshin's shoulder as she spoke to him with an evil look in her eyes.
"When we're in there, just let me do the killing."
Kenshin wanted to disagree but he feared that she would get angry and he would end up losing an arm or leg. He knew that there was one thing Nari hated more than monsters, and that was people who prevented her from carrying out her judgment.
Kenshin then replied.
"Sure, I'll let you do your thing."
She removed her hand from his shoulder and began walking down the steps to the dungeon.
"I'm glad that you agree that judgment has to be carried out."
As she disappeared into the dungeon, he followed behind as he thought to himself.
"It's Ironic how us adventurers kill monsters when some of us are monsters ourselves. For example, Nari. She's a monster among humans."
What made her a monster was not her strength but the way she fiercely fought while having intent to kill any opponent; whether they were human or non-human. That is what set her apart from the other high rankers. Although, she could sometimes be a sweet lady depending on the day.
___________________
(Floor #87)
After catching a fish, Sora successfully taught Katsuya how to make a fire.
Afterwards, he cooked the fish and placed it on a stick.
Munch.
Munch.
Munch.
Katsuya was supposed to like the fish's taste. It was among the best seafood he had ever had, even though it wasn't actually from the sea.
He finished eating and realized his desire for water.
"I'll wash it down with something to drink."
He walked over the pond and kneeled down, cupping the water with his hands.
Slurp.
Slurp.
The water had a fresh cold taste as if it had ice cubes in it.
"Ah, nice cold water."
Splash!
Suddenly, water in the pond shot up into the air, like a volcano. Katsuya covered his head as the water sprinkled down on him.
"What the…."
As he looked up ahead, there was a giant creature sticking out of the water.
It was rough blue scaled and had purple jewel eyes; there were two giant white horns sticking out its head as it looked down at him.
The creature was a type of monster called a "water dragon"
(Water Dragon: Hp: 300,891)
Immediately, Sora's voice warned him.
"Be careful, water dragons are known for being able to shoot pressured water from their mouths."
Katsuya began backing up slowly.
The dragon opened its month and droplets of water began floating out of the pond, combining and creating a giant ball of water.
['Adapt' has activated.]
"Crap!"
Katsuya ran and dived across the ground as the ball of water shot towards him, hitting the ground.
Splash!
Crack!
It had hit the ground so hard that there was now a medium sized crater.
Quickly, Katsuya grabbed his sword off of the floor and gripped it tightly.
He had never fought with a sword before so he did not know how to; but he had an idea.
"I don't know how to fight with a sword but, I am good at accurately throwing blades. If I could just imagine that this is a knife, but just bigger, I could maybe throw it."
He then spoke aloud.
"Monster, activate. Sharpen."
['Monster' has been activated]
[You weapons 'Sharpen' move has been activated]
The monster opened its mouth once more, water droplets from the pond floated into the air, creating a giant ball of water.
Swoosh!
A great big ball of water shot towards him; he moved to the side but just barely dodged it.
Splash!
The water violently hit the ground, cracking it and pushing Katsuya away.
He tumbled across the floor as the water spread out; it was like a popped water balloon.
Katsuya's clothes were soaking wet; he regained his balance.
"Here goes nothing!"
With every ounce of his might, he threw the sword, creating a shock wave around his arm.
Swoosh.
It launched through the air like a bullet and pierced into the dragon's eye.
The creature slowly fell back, splashing against the water as its lifeless body began floating along it.
"...hah...I did it…"
[Quest Complete: Kill a Gold-rank monster]
[Level capacity +450]
[Leveled up x57]
[New skill learned: Evolve]
[Skills have deactivated]
After noticing that he had leveled up, he then called for a stat check.
A screen came into view.
{ Katsuya | Class: Fighter
Level: 86
Hp: 86,248
Intelligence: 125
Mp: 34,742
Atk: 32,527
Speed: 261
Endurance: 2,067
Exp: 0/8,600}
The thought of how he won occurred to him. It was all thanks to the necklace increasing his stats and the powerful sword he obtained. Without those two, he would've been helpless against the dragon, having no way to combat it. Throwing the sword into the head of the monster left him without a weapon.
"I'll just have to find another one." Katsuya thought to himself.
A large shadow hovered behind him, darkening the area around.
As he slowly turned around in shock, he realized what was causing the shadow. There was a great big body with blue scales all over.
Katsuya lifted his head; above him was the head of the dragon, staring down at him with its purple glowing eyes.
The dragon opened its mouth, a giant breathtaking blast of water shot out.
Swoosh!
Splash!
Crack!
(Katsuya: Hp: 31,248/86,248)
He was hit by the blast of water and the ground under him was now a crater; water flowed in each direction like waves.
Laying inside the crater which the water had created, was Katsuya.
He grinned and lifted his arms, slamming his elbows on the ground before jumping back on his feet.
"I'm able to take an attack from a Gold-rank monster now. What do I have to fear? Monster, activate."
['Adapt' has activated]
['Monster's had been activated]
[New skill learned: Deflect]
Arrows made of water began forming in midair.
"Sora, read me the description of my newest skill."
The arrows began launching towards him as he ran around, dodging each one. Left, right, there was no stopping the attacks.
As he continued dodging, Sora began reading the skills description.
"Deflect, When activated, your hands will automatically deflect any close range attack. When used against projectiles, your hands will redirect the projectile in another direction.
Costs: 500 Mp. Cooldown time: 1 minute."
One of the arrows was instantly inches away from hitting Katsuya's face as he grinned.
A red stream of light followed the movement of his hands as he turned the arrow away. It was turned around, launching at the dragon.
As the arrow hit the dragon's face, a great round shockwave was created.
Boom!
Katsuya ran forward and jumped into the air, leaping over the pond.
Wind followed the swing of his legs as he stomped down on the creature's head; he placed his hands on the handle of the sword as it was stuck in the dragon's head.
"I'll be taking this back."
There was a somewhat monstrous look in Katsuya's eyes as he yanked the sword out. Gracefully, he jumped off with a gentle leap backwards; there almost no sound as he softly landed back on the ground.
Tap.
[Leveled up x30]
[Skills have deactivated]
"Alright, I think it's time to leave now."
Katsuya began walking away as he carried his sword. He stopped as he heard the water moving from behind.
"Don't tell me…"
He turned around, only to see the dragon stepping out from the water.
"How could I forget that the water heals damage?"
Katsuya shook his head in disappointment. The dragon looked up and let out the loudest roar he had ever heard. The roaring violently shook every inch of the area; Katsuya let out a sigh as he started approaching the creature.
"...Here we go again."
