Orario and balance 2.290

Upon reaching the tenth floor the landscape changes to an arid, wide, and fog-covered region with white trees as if it were a ghost forest. At the same time, orcs appeared, three-meter-tall pig-headed giants who occupied the trunks of white trees as if they were clubs.

Ana and Sakura were still taking care of everything, almost all of Sakura with her bow and arrow. Ana only helped when the orcs came in groups of five more.

On the other hand, Asfi looked at Viggo with more displeasure at every moment as they went, finding him useless and opportunistic. He just pretended to be someone important behind that shining armor, but he had no value at all.

—Why don't you do anything?— asked Asfi in an annoyed state.

Viggo gave her a brief glance and then continued moving forward —because it's not my time yet— he said in a thick, calm voice —we always do it that way. The girls take care of the first floors, and I take care of the fifteenth floor onwards. Already when we reach the twenty-fifth floor we are forced to work together—

—I don't know why I don't believe you—

Viggo glanced at her sideways and let out a sigh. Then he looked at Sakura who was ahead of him with Ana by her side. Sakura was putting an arrow in her bow and was going to tighten the rope. Viggo tapped her on the shoulder, she looked back, and he said —Leave it to me, our client is not convinced of my word—

Sakura let go of the rope and kept the arrow in her right hand and the bow in her left. Ana on Sakura's left side stepped aside. Viggo advanced ahead, Sakura and Ana were placed on the sides of Asfi and between the three of them they were staring at him. Viggo was so big that they had to separate so they could look from the sides. Ahead of Viggo was a group of four orcs, all three meters tall, bulky bodies and pig's heads.

Viggo made a sword of chaos appear in his right hand. The chain tied to his forearm, short handle for the use of one hand, handguard in the shape of a demon's skull with teeth over the top of the blade. In turn, the sixty-centimeter blade had runic engravings on the flat part of the sides, with the edges serrated and the tip slightly curved upwards. Viggo channeled soul strength and the sword was clothed with a powerful and suffocating fire. Sakura, Ana and Asfi had to get away from Viggo so as not to be burned. At the same time, Viggo continued to move forward, threw the sword into the air, the chain tied to the pommel lengthened, after reaching ten meters, Viggo held the chain and pulled it so that it imitated the effect of a whip, hit the center of the orcs, and burst into flames. The impact generated a great dust that dissipated the fog and vaporized the orcs. After the dust cleared, only the purple stones of the monsters remained. Viggo walked over, picked up the four stones with his left hand and walked back.

Asfi did not look away from the sword that Viggo carried in his right hand. If the armor was incredible, the sword was not inferior. Viggo held out his left hand, Asfi stretched out his hands, and Viggo released the purple stones. Asfi received them and looked at them.

—Are you now convinced of my strength?— asked Viggo.

—Yes— Asfi said quietly.

Viggo turned his back and continued to move forward as Sakura caught up with him. Ana and Asfi advanced behind them looking at the road and watching as Sakura killed the vast majority of the monsters with her arrows. However, something happened that surprised Asfi. She understood at first glance that Viggo's sword was something special so she could pass up the fact that he had made her appear out of nowhere. However, when Sakura ran out of arrows and Viggo raised his right hand and made a bunch of arrows appear. It was impossible to miss it. They were ordinary arrows when Sakura shot them were no different from the previous arrows. So, she makes two assumptions: number one, Viggo could create objects with some power or number two, Viggo had some object that could store things.

—You shouldn't look at another woman's man— Ana said in a soft, seductive tone of voice —your eyes could be gouged out—

Asfia immediately lowered her head and Ana chuckled. Asfi looked at Ana and could see in her eyes that she was having fun at her expense.

—Curious?— asked Ana.

—I don't like your husband— Asfi replied moodily.

—Wow, nobody talked about whether you liked my husband or not— Ana said in a playful tone of voice.

Asfi turned furiously red, and Ana continued to laugh at her.

—Ok, that was fun— Ana said —but seriously, I was referring to how Vigo makes the arrows appear. That caught your attention, didn't it?— Asfi nodded, and Ana continued —it's a shame, but I still can't tell you, you're not trustworthy—

—If— Asfi said, bowing her face as her eyes filled with tears —if you're going to keep making fun of me, I'd rather you let me die here—

—I'm serious, you're not trustworthy yet— Ana said in a soft, seductive voice. Asfi looked into her eyes and could see that she wasn't laughing, she was being honest —Viggo's secrets aren't simple, he confides them to his friends and family, but mostly to trusted people. Do you own your own life, your destiny? Otherwise, you are not trustworthy—

—I, I am not, own of my life, Mr. Hermes— Asfi said quietly.

—Well, that's why I can't trust you with this secret—

—Why were you teaching me in the beginning?— asked Asfi.

—You're an adventurer who comes to the dungeon without knowing anything. You are weak and could die at any time. Viggo considers you valuable, that's why he asked me to help you—

—Me, he wants me for himself—

—One does not necessarily need to desire someone in a carnal way to help. Viggo's future is more complicated than you can imagine, and he is moving to make it easier for everyone. If one day you become trustworthy, he may tell you. Otherwise, this will be a one-time meeting. In any case, I don't mind helping you. I think it would be a shame if you died in the dungeon just because of the whim of a god—

—Mr. Hermes is not like that—

—If you say so—

Viggo and his group continued descending while Ana continued to teach Asfi things as they faced the monsters until they reached the seventeenth floor, a desert, spacious place with walls and rock roof. There were no monsters, and the only noise was caused by the breeze dragging the barren earth.

Viggo stopped in the middle of the floor, from this distance the glass wall that regenerated the monster rex Goliath was already visible. Viggo proved the existence of the Goliath inside the crystal, from his ring he drew his black bow and two arrows. He went to sit on a rock and the rest followed. Viggo put aside the bow and took the arrows to remove the metal tip.

At the same time, Asfi looked at him curiously. To begin with, she didn't know why they had stopped or why Viggo was removing the tips from the arrows.

—Show me the stones they were collecting— said Viggo, looking into her eyes.

—The monster stones?— asked Asfi back.

—Yes, those same ones— replied Viggo, Asfi walked, took the bag with the stones, and opened it and then showed it to Viggo. The latter took the larger stones like the tip of an arrow and said —that's enough—

Asfi backed away and saw Viggo place the stones on the tips of the arrows. He closed his hand and left the little finger stretched out. Then Viggo directed his little finger to the stone at the tip of an arrow, but stopped when he saw that his finger was too big thanks to the gauntlet. Viggo took off his gauntlet but realized that his fingers were still very large. He takes a deep breath and channel mana to the tip of the nail he occupies to write a rune on the stone. The first purple stone at the tip of the arrow took on a heavenly glow while the second stone took on an igneous glow.

—I'm holding your arrow— Sakura said with her bow in her left hand. She moved forward, Viggo held out the arrow with the rune of Sowelu "S" and she received it. Viggo took the arrow with the rune of Isa "I" and walked carrying the bow in his left hand. Everyone followed, but Asfi was more and more curious about what he was going to do until suddenly he heard a crystal break. She looked down at the bottom of the floor and saw a huge wall of glass crumbling. The next instant a huge hand pierced the crystals and was clearly visible in the distance. Then another arm appeared, a leg until finally the whole body was freed from the wall of crystals.

—A giant?— asked Asfi, scared to death, she remembered something and looked at Ana, who was on her right —Is it a rex monster?—

—Yes, a monster rex— Ana replied with a broad smile.

—They're crazy— Asfi shouted, turned around and tried to start in the other direction. However, Ana grabbed her by the neck and prevented her from escaping —why are you stopping me?—

—Aren't you curious?— Ana asked with a sly look, she pointed towards Viggo who took the arrow with the stone that emitted a heavenly glow.

Asfi stared, then calculated the distance between Viggo and Goliath and thought he was crazy. It was more than five hundred meters. However, Viggo tightened the rope and within seconds released it. The arrow flew forming a beautiful arc with a celestial color trail and hit Goliath all over the face. The creature roared in pain and put its hands to its face. At the same time, Viggo stretched out his hand, and Sakura put the arrow with the igneous brilliance on the tip. He placed the arrow on the bow, tense the rope once more and after a few seconds, he released the rope, and the arrow flew forming a beautiful igneous arc. The Goliath moved his hands away from his face only for the other arrow to hit him on the already frozen side. There was a loud roar and the next instant Goliath's head exploded into a thousand pieces. The huge creature fell head-on and collapsed to the ground. Within seconds it began to fade into a cloud of glowing dust until only a huge purple stone remained.

Asfi didn't want to believe it What had happened? What was so powerful that a creature of that size was so easily shot down?

—Viggo— said Asfi, walking in the direction of Viggo, unable to contain her curiosity. She stopped beside him and looked into his eyes. He was huge, it was uncomfortable to look up, but none of that worried her —What was that?— she asked.

—It's called a thermal reaction— Viggo replied with a brief glance —it happens when you expose an object to extreme temperatures. The object cannot withstand the strong changes and explodes—

—It's, it's incredible, how do you do it?—

—Tell me, are you worthy of me trusting you with this secret?—

Asfi froze not knowing what to answer. She lowered her head and thought about it for a few seconds. Then she raised her face and looked at Viggo with a frown —I'll become reliable enough and you'll have to tell me all your secrets—

Viggo chuckled, stretched out her hand, and messed up her hair playfully.