Descending Floors, I

We opened the gate to the third floor.

It took time for everyone to get accustomed to the sunlight because of how used we had gotten to the darkness inside the cavern.

We certainly did go through it without a single issue, since it was a mix of the first and second floor.

Meaning, that there were desserts and caves which rested on them, though, it wasn't safe to go inside the mini mountains since they were mostly filled with lakes full of hungry piranhas.

After killing three hundred bat-spiders and one-hundred-fifty Sirens, the gate leading to the fourth floor was found.

***

We transitioned to the fourth floor, and yet again, the gate behind us disappeared.

This floor was a savanna, like a grassland. The temperatures weren't high, and neither was the night cold.

It was some sort of break floor from the others, even if it took over six days to clear by killing five hundred bat-spiders and three hundred Sirens.

It was such a drag and it was very monotonous, doing nothing but slashing. My blade also began getting duller, no matter how swift I was with it.

But sharpening and cleaning it every night was an obligative assignment.

Ah, I also trained Mai and Soobin about magic on the third day at the Savanna Floor.

***

"Sean, Mai, and Soobin may follow me. As for Luke, Ren, and Haruka, you may spectate." I nodded while giving out so-called orders.

We were now in the middle of a valley, under the shade of a giant tree while the sun was getting ready to set.

"Since four of us have already awakened in the dungeon, that means our abilities further surpass yours, and we must try heightening them to the fullest." I tried explaining why we were training separately.

"Sean, explain to them the matter of activating and wearing a mana cloak."

"Okay, I'll try to. So basically, sit down first. Close your eyes and try feeling the invisible world around you. Though you have closed your eyes, you certainly may notice different colored particles shining. Those are, as you have guessed already, motes of mana." Sean began his explanation.

"Now, simply imagine as if you are throwing a wind over them to approach you and enter your body. Envision the motes getting stored into a small sphere in between your lungs."

"Hmm… This seems to be going worse than I expected." I murmured.

"I have to ask, how are you and Sean so well-versed in this matter already?" Ren questioned.

I scoffed, "After dozens of hours watching Japanese fantasy anime, it was worth it to take note of the information displayed in each and every single one of them. Even if it was repetitive, it just means that we already had the process ingrained in our brains. Ha ha ha," I laughed, guffawing with breaks like a villain.

"Getting back to the main topic," I said, holding my chin as I turned to the struggling girls.

"Hey, you girls, are you that bad at imagining stuff? What about the scenarios you make with your crushes when you go to sleep, huh?!" I yelled indifferently.

"Is that supposed to be a scream or something? You should at least raise your voice and make it seem like one. Hah…" Mai complained, "And how are we supposed to suddenly imagine floating dots getting sucked in on our body?"

"Just do it!" I urged her.

"Okay, okay–?" Mai's sentence was cut off by Soobin.

"Ah, I can feel it… My chest's getting warm…"

"Ooh! Nice, Soobin, keep it up like that!" Sean seemed to be proud of her.

"This does feel nice… like I got inside a warm bathtub. I missed this sensation… No, it's gone now!"

"Your focus has wavered and you stopped circulating and refining mana, that's it. Keep trying and you'll reach the desired result again."

"As for making a mana cloak, simply imagine mana particles meshing together and spreading over your muscles, then just push it up to the surface of your skin." I gave the simplest explanation possible.

Like that, three hours later, Mai also began to manipulate mana and absorb it.

Tomorrow came, the fourth day in the savanna.

I woke up, ate some dried meat rations I had from the deceased Michael's bag, and went out for our morning hunt.

On this floor, the monsters' bodies didn't disappear, we had to open up their solar plexus ourselves and get a hold of its mana crystal.

"Now, shall we try some combat training?" I suggested.

"We'll sure do… It's whatever the leader says after all,"

"Sean, you team up with Mai, and I'll team up with Soobin," I informed the teams made.

"Hmph–" I let out my breath as I stretched my body.

"First, activate your mana cloaks," I ordered, "We're only doing hand-to-hand combat right now, no weapons allowed, no kicks to the head allowed, and no hits to vitals, for example, genitalia…" I gave an annoyed glare towards Mai since she tried to kick me when I held her by the throat that one time.

"Aye, don't blame me, you just got on my nerves back then, seeing that aloof and unmoving face of yours, forcing yourself to smile and all, you just looked creepy." She huffed and retorted, making it look like we were in different circumstances.

"Sigh. That was it for the rules, let's… begin!" I announced.

Sean drew close to me first, whereas, Soobin approached Mai instead.

Punch to the left side of my face…

"Hmph!" I moved my head further left, his swing resulting in an air punch, I was in blank range right now.

"Get out!" I curved my right blow to the surface of his cheek as hard as I could, sending him tumbling away, falling to the ground myself by the momentum I had.

"Did I go too far…? Erm, Sean…? Hey, wake up!" I went and sat on top of him slapping his face right and left.

"Hah!" He gasped, "I think I saw an angel reaching out to me and saying "Come over here, Sean, you can easily jump over this river." And then it started slapping me because I refused to do so, throwing me in the water and trying to drown me… Such a traumatic experience…" A tear dropped from his eye.

No, it didn't, he was just trying to make this more comical, which actually made me laugh.

I never saw Sean cracking jokes like this before. I'm glad he doesn't feel out of place with this group of people.

I can see the women are still throwing punches.

"Hiya!" Soobin pivoted on her heels, turning three-hundred-sixty-degrees, and trying to hit Mai with the back of her fist, which was not successful.

The person who was attacked managed to get a hold of Soobin's fist and then kicked her ankles, trying to get her to fall down which didn't work as she used the momentum to do a backflip and break free from the black-haired girl.

"Tch, your control over your body is irritating." Mai scowled.

"Heh, and so is your gorilla hold," Soobin smirked.

"Ehh, why am I hearing that from a chimpanzee?!" Mai spat with a bemused face.

"What did'ja say!? Respect your seniors, you spoiled child!"

Haha… they make a great match of sisters. I smiled unconsciously at the sight.

***

Three days later, we finally found the gate to the fifth floor and got back to our daily fights for life.