Capítulo 36: Abyss Vines

Packing their gear up the party prepared themselves for the next floor by doing some stretches after a long rest. Climbing the stairs they slowly made their way into the third floor hoping that it would be warmer than the previous one.

Hearing a loud boom in the sky the party was met with a dimly lit forest that barely protected them from the downpour of rain. "This sucks, not only is visibility low but we have to spend who knows how long being cold and wet. " Yuki said while doing her best to stay as dry as she can.

"While it is not a ideal environment we still need to be careful since the mobs can use magic on this floor so try not to lower your guard. " Eric said holding his shield over his head to keep the water out of his eyes. "Little Shadow and I can go scout for the locations of the mobs, with our speed and my Shadow Element we should be safe going out alone if we don't stop to fight. " Alice said to Eric wanting to help lighten the burden of this floor.

"Yeah just be sure not to engage with the mobs or bring them back to us. " Eric replied standing under the small cover Yuki had built for the party. Giving a nod both Alice and Shadow sped off into the forest to locate the mobs as best they could.

Leaping from tree to tree as fast as she would she quickly made her way through the forest making mental notes of the mobs she passed along the way. Quickly dodging to the right she managed to dodge a blast of fire hitting the tree next to where she was standing. 'Shadow make sure you are not followed and head back to the party, ' Alice instructed as she sank into a shadow to move closer to the party without being seen by the monster that attacked her.

"That was pretty quick did you see any of the mobs? " Eric said seeing her come out of a shadow net to them. "Yeah, I was attacked by one of them further out but I made sure to use my Shadow Element to escape without being seen. " Alice said taking some shelter to warm up by a fire they managed to start.

'Alice, one of the closer mobs spotted me and is following me, I need help. ' Little Shadow said urgently. "We need to move Little Shadow is being followed by one of the mobs closest to us and is in trouble. " Alice said leading the party towards Little Shadow.

Quickly darting behind the party safely Little Shadow climbed a tree waiting for his moment to attack while Alice and the others fought the mobs.

Gaining aggro Eric made use of his Fire Element giving Alice quite the surprise, thanks to 'Gods Eye' she knew he had a decent amount of mana for his level but she didn't know he could use the Fire Element.

Sending small 'Fireballs' out to help the party see better in the dark, seeing his mana go down at a quick pace she called out, "Eric! I will take over with using the Fire Element you save your mana! "

Infusing her scythe with her Fire Element Alice's blade caught fire making it look like streaks of red were left behind after every swing. With visibility slightly better than before the group managed to fend off the magic attacks being sent their way while taking the mob down one monster at a time.

Killing the last monster of the first mob the group sat in another shelter to discus a battle plan to make things go a little smoother. "Alice, as long as you can keep a 'Fireball' going without launching it at a enemy I think we will have just enough light to see the mob monsters lurking in the trees. Yuki we will need you to use your Earth Element to protect us from the magic attacks while Yumi and Alex attack the monsters still in the trees to knock them down. Josh and I will tank as much as we can while Alice keeps the mobs from getting to anyone other than Josh and I. " Eric said forming a battle formation for the party.

"Sounds like a good plan to me, " Yumi said understanding what her role was for this floor. "I also have no objections, " Yuki and Alex said together. Having a solid plan of action the party follows Alice and Little Shadow to the location of the next mob.

While walking she pulled out her Grimoire and looked for more crowd control type spells to help with this kind of situation. Seeing the book stop flipping on a spell called 'Abyss Vines' she raised an eyebrow reading the spell to herself. 'Using 200 MP the spell caster will place their hands on the ground in a place with trees or vines. The spell caster will take control of five black vines that pull the target(s) to the place the spell has been cast rooting the target(s) in place for 30 seconds. 1,000 mana can be used to use the upgraded spell 'Vines of the Shadow Monarch'

'Vines of the Shadow Monarch' is activated the same way as 'Abyss Vines' but will allow the caster to control 25 Vines pulling the target(s) to specified potion draining 20 MP per second from target(s).

Almost tripping while reading the skill Alice settled with only using the 'Abyss Vines' spell when she needed not wanting to waste over half her MP just to use a single spell. Successfully learning her new spell she started to wonder about the term 'Shadow Monarch' wondering how many more spells have a upgraded version to them. 'I will have to read more of the Grimoire when I get a chance, ' Alice thought to herself as the party arrived at the next mob location.

Jumping into their formation Alice conjured up a large 'Fireball' above the party giving them enough light to see the monsters hiding on tree limbs. Alex and Yumi went to work knocking the monsters off the trees while Yuki defended against the magic attacks being sent their way using her Earth Element to block and destroy the attacks before they got close to Eric who had used 'War Cry' to get their attention.

Placing her hands on the ground she activated her new spell feeling the mana rush from her body to the ground as a small shadow slowly spread from her hands. Suddenly five large Black Vines rushed out in all directions pulling monsters from treetops and the surrounding area pulling the moneys quickly to the center wrapping around the monsters and rooting them in place. Swinging her scythe at neck level she managed to decapitate all five monsters in one attack causing the rest of the party to slow down due to shock at the sudden new spell.

"What the hell was that Alice??? " Yumi shouted wanting to know where that spell came from and why she didn't use it sooner. "I did some reading on the walk over here and wanted to try something new out but it takes a lot of mana, " She replied looking at her renaming mana.

Name - Alice

Class - Demi Angel

Title - Hunter

HP 583/605

MP 1,233/1,660

Smiling due to the fact she still had over 1,000 MP even with keeping the 'Fireball' going and using her new spell she continued to attack the mob mercilessly.

Finishing up the second mob and taking another short rest Alice was amazed seeing her mana regenerate at a alarming speed almost having all of her mana back in a few moments. "How much mana does a spell like that even cost? " Yuki said also getting Alex's attention as he wanted to know as well.

"It costs 200 mana to use the spell, there is also a upgraded version called 'Vines of the Shadow Monarch' that costs 1,000 mana to activate but it also drains 20 mana per second from up to 25 targets. " Alice replied with a bragging tone and a smile.

"That's just insane!!! " Alex yelled out not believing her words. "Even a level 40 mage has barely over 1,000 mana! " He continued to say in shock.

"Well it isn't like I can use that skill yet you know, " Alice said lying knowing she could use the spell if she wanted to. "I guess that is true, it would be crazy for someone who isn't even level 40 to have that much mana. " Yuki said as the party continued their talk while walking to the next destination.

Following their new battle formation the party made quick work of the next few mobs as the reached the entrance to the last floor of the dungeon. "Well thanks to our ability to work as a team we made really good time despite the rain and lack of light at the beginning. " Eric said while pulling out some more food to eat. "Yeah, we should probably head to the last floor after we get some rest, " Josh said pulling out his tent while Yuki shielded the party from the constant rain.

Laying down in her own tent Alice decided to level up after gaining enough experience to get the system notification after killing the last few monster of the floor.

Name - Alice

Class - Fallen > Demi Angel

Title - Hunter

HP - 610/610

MP - 1,715/1,715

Level - 17 > 18

STR - 80 > 90 +10

VIT - 78 +5

INT - 110 > 120 (+5 +200)

DEX - 40 > 45 (+10 +5)

DEF - 60 (+5 +10 +10)

AGI - 50 > 55(+5 +10)

Skill points - 30 > 0

Skills; Familiar Telepathy, Blessed by God (Passive), Demonic Gaze, Gods Eye (Passive)

Feeling the rush of power again she smiled before closing her eyes and falling asleep even though she didn't need to.

Little Shadow on the other hand laid beside Alice while feeling the same rush again after having leveled up quite a few times in the dungeon.

| Little Shadow level 16 |

HP 340/340

MP 670/670

Skill - Devour, Fear (Lets out a primal growl causing enemy's to feel a sense of fear)

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Waking up to the sounds of everyone packing their gear Alice woke Little Shadow up and did the same before joining them next to the entrance to the last floor. "Alright everyone we will see what the plan of action is once we enter the last floor so be prepared for the worst. " Eric said leading the way.

Coming into a clearing the group saw that the forest was not as think as before and the sky was sunny and clear. "Thankfully we have good weather on this floor, " Yumi said taking a deep breath of fresh air.

"It is pretty weird that we can basically see through the forest to where the boss is though, " Alice said pointing in the direction of the boss. "We cant see that far, " Yumi said looking in the direction Alice was pointing. "Oh well I am certain the boss is that way.. " Alice said seeing a large beast far out through the trees.

"Lets go then, " Eric said trusting Alice's words and leading the way through the loosely wooded forest. Keeping an eye out for possible mobs they were suspicious when they couldn't see any signs of mobs.

Slowly walking forward they were able to see the Boss of the fourth floor.

| Satori Level 22 Boss |

HP 43,000/43,000

MP 60,000/60,000

Skills - Mind Manipulation, Mind Reading, Illusion, Chain Lightning

Whispering to the party Eric instructed that they stay spread out due to the 'Chain Lightning' spell the Satori had not wanting his whole team to get stunned or killed in one go.

Taking his instructions the party spread out in the forest before rushing out on different sides of the boss to take it by surprise. Using his 'War Cry' skill Eric blocked the first attack being sent back a few feet before being healed by Josh.

Seeing them spread out the Boss used his spell 'Mind Manipulation' to confuse Yuki into seeing Josh as the Satori.

Turning her attention at Josh she raised her hands and started to cast 'Earth Spikes' in hopes of dealing massive damage to the Boss not knowing she was attacking her own team mate and friend.