Leo tied the whole crab to a thin tree and roasted it with the help of Yue's magic. He went to the river and collected a bucket full of water. He went through all this effort to obtain some salt, the taste of meat without salt, he couldn't describe it in mere words.
After repeating this process for the umpteenth time, he had gathered nearly a dozen pounds of salt.
He took a bite of the crab soft meat.
"Goddammit, why does it taste so bad?"
Yue tilted her head. "...Maybe Mana inside the meat?"
He grumbled and stuffed his stomach full.
[Skill 'Telepathy' acquired]
[Telepathy] (Active skill)
Allows the user to communicate with others by transference of thoughts in their mind within a limited range
"Yue, can you hear me?"
"...Leo!"
"How was it?" he asked without telepathy.
"Oh, so I really heard your voice… I thought it was a dream?"
He simply nodded his head and explained the new skill.
"It'll improve our teamwork to the next level."
"Nn. We can talk even in sleep, fufu."
"..."
After eating, he took off all his clothes except underwear and jumped inside water. The cold water washed away the dirt accumulated on his body. He sighed and turned back to see Yue displaying her completely naked body with a smile.
"Let me wash your hair with some shampoo."
He said and filled the normal bucket he bought for 20SP full of water and poured it on her. Seeing her shudder from the cold water, he chuckled and purchased a shampoo from the shop which cost him 10SP. With a squeeze on the bottle, a lemon-flavored liquid fell on his left hand.
She looked up with moist eyes. "...Shampoo? … It smells good."
He rubbed his hands together and applied shampoo on her smooth golden hair. After massaging her hair for several minutes, he poured another bucket full of cold water to wash away the foam.
Her loose expression turned teary-eyed in an instant, earning another chuckle from Leo.
After Yue washed his hair, where he had to lower his head, they played around for an hour. With a happy smile on their faces, the duo started the journey further down the abyss.
Days passed by, the duo of Berserk Monster and Vampire princess conquered floor after floor doing some nasty hunting. Sometime along the way Yue awakened her sadist side, killing the monsters with a gentle smile. As for him he completed his dream of creating a gun which was designed after the infamous Desert Eagle. His own strength increased with every new monster he ate. Some of them tasted very disgu— delicious.
On one floor, they found many T-Rex look alike monsters controlled by some other monster. They charged through the floor and met a woman-plant hybrid, a face that could scare away 10 out of 10 people. It used her skill to take control of Yue's body and hid behind her. He swore to create something that'll stop these possession-type skills.
He, an individual proud of his marksmanship shot without any hesitation and ended the ugly monster. He watched its head exploding in slow motion, only thing he missed here was some popcorns.
After coaxing the angry Yue, who sucked his blood till he fainted. He still lived thanks to his high vitality or he would've been roaming the voids now. Quite a tragic death for the one swore to slay the God of this World.
Now, the said duo stared at the monster in front of them. A green-skinned giant standing higher than five meters with an extremely sturdy body. A face resembling an orc with two fangs growing out of its mouth. Its thick muscular arm holding a giant wooden club.
'Analyze'
[??]
Strength: 2200
Vitality: 2400
Defense: 2000
Agility: 1300
Magic: 1500
Magic Defense: 1500
Skills: [Wind Roar]
The orc stretched its mouth wide to suck in an enormous amount of air.
Kraaaawrrr~!!!
A massive explosion of wind came followed by a thunderous roar. Leo smiled fearlessly showing any intention to dodge. The shockwaves caused by roar crashed against his body, he stood there without moving an inch.
After enduring the attack with diamond protection, the final derivative skill that boosted his defense to another level. He looked at the monster, it could be called the very definition of brute strength.
"Yue, let me fight against it. You conserve mana for any surprise attack."
Yue nodded with a reluctant face. She wanted to help him, but he was also correct.
He noticed the hesitation on her face and decided to use the final trump card. "Yue is the best partner for me."
"Nn."
The orc also neared them, he wanted to win this fight without any weapons. He just wanted to test his raw strength. He lightly kicked the ground and dashed forward leaving after images. Looking at Orc ugly face, he shoved his fist forward with steel arms.
Orc sneered at the puny human's attack and folded both arms on its chest. Little did it know the attack was more dangerous than it thought.
Bang!
His relatively small fist connected with Orc's face and broke one of its fangs and made it spin 180.
Leo already noticed this monster was pretty intelligent in comparison to the mutated orc he met before.
"Heh, out with just one punch?"
Orc replied with a devastating punch. Before it could hit him he evaded sideways. He jumped again and kicked its jaw while activating steel legs.
Bam!!!
The orc lost balance and fell on its back. He wasted no chance and pounced on its face.
He strengthened his hands and battered its face, his mind forgot everything and focused on beating until he stopped hearing the whimper.
He stepped back and snatched the towel from Yue and wiped the blood from his face.
He looked at the orc's body as if admiring a masterpiece. Using wind blades, he cut a part of the body and put it inside the inventory.
He searched around the floor and found no other monsters, he built a camp near the stairs while Yue cooked (Roasted) the meal. Although he felt a bit of disgust from eating the humanoid shaped monster but strength was necessary for survival.
Inside the camp, he laid on the comfy blanket. Yue rested her head on his chest from the right. Despite the fact they looked so intimate, they had yet to cross the final line.
'Status'
[Status]
Name: Leo Evans
Title: [Behemoth Killer] [Cruel Hunter]
Race: Human-Monster Hybrid
Age: 17
Level: 62
Class: Berserker
Strength: 2150
Vitality: 2500
Defense: 2750
Agility: 2000
Magic: 5000 (Sealed)
Magic Defense: 5000
[Skills]
....
[Gale Claw (Active skill)]
[+Triple Gale Claw (Active skill)]
[+Flying Gale Claw (Active skill)]
Allows the user to shoot the wind blades as projectiles
[Sense Heat (Active skill)]
Allows the user to track and detect heat emitted around
[Diamond skin] (Active skill)]
[+Diamond Protection] (Active skill)]
Boosts the defense further
[+Focused Hardening] (Active skill)]
Allows the user to focus the defense in one part
[Intimidate (Active skill)]
Allows the user to cast Fear or Panic status by amplifying presence in proportional to the amount of mana used
[Telepathy (Active skill)]
Allows the user to communicate with others by transference of thoughts in their mind within a limited range
[Innate Abilities]
...
[Mana Manipulation] (S)
Mana Discharge (Active skill): Allows the user to focus and emit mana from their body
Mana Compression (Active skill): Allows the user to compress and expel mana
Remote Manipulation (Active skill): Allows the user to control the emitted mana
His strength was already on another level, diamond protection granted him a defense no monster could break in single attack. Gale claws being his attacks for range enemies but Yue filled the gaps with her powerful magic.
After some rest, the duo stood in front of the stairs of the next and final floor of Orcus Labyrinth. The boss monster inside might be tougher than everything they ever encountered in this Labyrinth.