37 Floor 17, Alice vs. The Goliath

"So, do we have a deal?"

"Yes, we have a deal."

"Alright then, we're going to have to do this in stages, I can't just give you all my knowledge in one grimoire."

"Hephaestus said the same thing, but why?"

"Because it's not just simple knowledge obtained through study, there's more to it. Remember the knowledge you gained of the bear after you focused on it? I've been doing that with magic. And I've been doing that for a very, VERY long time."

"Ah, right. Guess that would be a lot." 'Especially considering everything I learned about the bear. I know everything about it. Anatomy, physiology all in absolute perfect detail. I know how to tame and train one to do whatever I want it to, even if I couldn't talk to animals and force them to do what I want them to. I even know how it evolved to become what it is today, and how to evolve it further. With magic it could evolve to become any kind of monster related to bears in existence and so much more, even without magic the posibilities are endless. Considering what I could do with a bear, if I focus on a cockroach I could evolve it to be more powerful than Meruem.'

"Alright, so when do we start and how long is it going to take?"

"Hmm, a full grimoire a day for the next two and a half years should do it."

"Wow... that's a lot. All my knowledge of magic fit into one grimoire but you need nine hundred?"

"No, magic is maybe three hundred. I'm also giving you herbs, poison and necromancy."

"That's a lot."

"Yes it is, add to that the grimoires you'll get from Hephaestus... Why do you want so much knowledge anyway?"

"If you knew anything about the worlds I'm planning to visit in the future you wouldn't ask that question. Safe to say there's some truly dangerous creatures out there."

"Right, well if you're really planning on making such dangerous enemies, perhaps you should think about taking a dimension for yourself. One that has an empty world in it, a paradise for animals. And then collect or raise an army of animals for yourself.

The knowledge you'll gain from me includes various kinds of summoning spells, some of which could work across dimensions with some minor alterations. Just a suggestion."

" Thank you, I'll think about that. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

'Done for the day, and earlier than I expected. I wonder how Alice and the wolves are doing.'

----------

Meanwhile in the Dungeon on floor 17.

Alice and the pack are walking through very large, eerily quiet halls. This floor seems to lack the sounds and smells they've gotten used to. It's as though this floor doesn't have any monsters at all.

"Alice, don't you think maybe we should go back up? We didn't get any information about any floors below the tenth, we weren't even supposed to go below the fifth."

"Oh relax Luna, let's just see what monsters this floor has and then we'll go back up. Speaking of monsters, we've been on this floor for a while now. How come we haven't seen any?"

*Crack*

Everybody stops walking as they turn their heads to the right. They see a sort of crystalline wall that slowly starts glowing a pale blue light, revealing the silhouette of a giant humanoid standing at about twenty meters. (65 ft.)

"Huh, I didn't see that coming. Alright Luna, boys you focus on the legs. Limit its mobility. Girls, you keep it distracted. Anticipate its movements and disrupt its attacks. Meanwhile I'll try to find a way to bring it down permanently."

"Can't you just use its own blood?" Luna asked.

"No, I can't sense any blood flowing through that thing."

"Then we'll have to do it the hard way. Kids, you got your orders, get ready."

*CRACK*BAM*

*ROOAARR*

The moment the Goliath breaks through the wall the rubble falls all around the party and the monster lets out a deafening roar.

Without any hesitation Luna, Beowulf and Duke start running towards its feet, aiming to sever the giant's Achilles tendon.

All three of them chomp down on them at the same time.

*GRAAA!*BAM!*

The Goliath screams out in pain and falls to its hands and knees.

"Forget the plan, I got this." Alice says while she creates a spear, seemingly out of thin air, made out of blood.

The next moment she drives it straight through the giant's temple.

"That was easier than I thought it would be." Duke said. "When did you learn how to make blood out of thin air?"

"Just now, I guess I forgot the part where this ability allows me to create blood as well as manipulate it however I like."

"Guys! I hate to rain on your parade, but I don't think this monster is dead. It didn't poof out of existence like all the other monsters did. Where's the crystal they always drop? And a monster like this should leave a drop item as well, don't you think?" Luna interrupts while staring at the giant's head.

A gooey, black substance that was flowing out of the wound, slowly starts to flow back into the head.

"It must have a weak spot somewhere, right?" Twilight asks nervously.

"That just gave me an idea. I'm going to have to go all out. Not sure what that'll do to me so take care of me in case I lose consciousness."

Without waiting for a response, Alice immediately raises both her arms in the air. Above the giant four big spheres of blood appear, they immediately separate into hundreds of blood spears.

As Alice lowers her arms the spears all impale every square inch of the Giants body, making the monster look like a huge porcupine.

No longer able to keep up her strength, Alice collapses on the ground. The spears lose their solid state and turn into normal blood splashing all over and around the giant's corpse.

""Aww, man. That's not cool."" Twilight and Athena complain in unison, while being completely covered in blood from head to toe.

"Hahaha, that's what you get for sending that mob after Fenris." Duke says, laughing his ass off.

"Duke, you can cary Alice back up to the city."

"Oh come on, mom!"

----------

An hour later at the dungeon entrance, two teenage girls, a middle-aged woman and a teenage boy exit the dungeon accompanied by a wolf with a young woman strapped to its back.

After exiting the dungeon they're approached by a tall figure wearing a hood.

"Luna, what happened to Alice? And why is she strapped to Duke's back?" Fenris takes off the hood as he stares intently into Luna's eyes waiting for a satisfying answer.

"Hehe so, funny story.. she may have exerted her magic a little too much and lost consciousness. But as far as we can tell she's just sleeping." Luna answers.

"Why would she need to use her magic at all if you didn't go past the fifth floor? Anybody could survive there. I've sent seven year old children in the agoge to more hostile climates than these floors could possibly offer. So what happened?"

"Well... we may have gone a little further than the fifth floor."

"How much further?"

"Twelve floors further, to the seventeenth."

"You fought the giant? That's.. a problem."

"Why? We won and it dropped some kind of tooth, and a huge crystal."

"Because you're all level one, and it's your first time entering the dungeon. You've just done something no one else has ever done before.

*sigh*

You know what? It's okay. You're all safe, that's what matters. Let's go to the tavern and tomorrow we'll go see our new home.

We'll deal with the consequences as they come."

Fenris rubs Duke behind his ears as his tail starts wagging. He then unties Alice from Duke's back and carries her towards the tavern.