章 22: Chapter 23: 2nd Floor
It had been 30 minutes since they'd started walking through the second floor. Unlike the first floor, the second floor had more than one species of monsters. There were Kobolds and Goblins. 2 Weak monsters.
As they had planned, they continued to fight with John as the vanguard and Ariel with Serena as the support.
They were unstoppable. The number of monsters had increased, and they were encountering groups more often compared to floor one, but they still didn't encounter any adventurers.
They also saw a few Weirdly coloured but bigger than normal magic stones lying around and decided to leave it in the toolbox. The stone's origin was probably from the death of adventurers.
"John! Enemies!" Ariel said as Serena started to prepare her spell.
"Again? Haven't we already killed like 60? Since when do goblins and kobolds even work together? Tch, Alright, I have an idea. Let's deal with this group first." John said as he looked at the group of Goblins and Kobolds.
There were around 6 Goblins and 4 Kobolds, armed with Swords which were probably the only remains of the corpses of the adventurers they killed.
"For some reason, I feel really mad. Ariel, Serena! We'll do it like usual! After I attack them head on with my daggers and break their formation, you guys finish them." John said.
"Yes!" Ariel Replied.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Serena replied as she gave the signal that she had finished casting and that the spell was ready.
"Alright," John said as he enhanced his body with magic strengthening and charged at them. The more magic he circulated through his body, the stronger it got. With magic stones, it can get even stronger as John will have more power to be able to circulate.
But John didn't need magic stones, as it felt like every day his mana pool or reservoir had been growing quite quickly too.
In a single leap, John was able to cover the distance needed to get to them and in a single swing, he sliced off the head of the two goblins and kobolds who stood at the front.
Seeing their comrades getting obliterated so easily, struck fear in the hearts of the monsters. Seeing them tremble in dread made John feel bad for them. But that completely disappeared once he saw the weapons that they were holding.
"Now!" John shouted.
And at that moment, the two girls who had their spells ready cast it.
A giant ball of fire appeared and so did fairly transparent wind blades. These attacks were then propelled at the group of monsters who had lost their formation after John attacked them.
As the fireball and the Wind blades were about to impact on the group. John lept back to Ariel and Serena's side to dodge, and as always, the formation worked.
6 Green magic stones and 4 Purple magic stones were formed as the corpses disintegrated or were absorbed into the dungeon.
"Well done, you two," John said as he walked up to them after he picked up the magic stones and placed them in the already full pouch.
They've been using some of the magic stones so that they could keep and sell the lower-level ones. They had around 50 when they left the 1st floor and now only had 30. Each small stone from the weak monsters breaks after one use of a Giant spell like fireball or Ventus Tormentum.
John hasn't been using any, because he doesn't need them. But after seeing magic stones, he got an idea. Since he won't be using a wand or daggers. Why dosn't he make gloves with magic stones imbued in them!? That would not only look awesome, but it would also feel awesome.
"Regarding what you said, How will we be able to pass through without being detected?" Asked Serena.
"Ah John, you haven't shown her that yet have you?" Ariel asked.
"Nope, I was waiting for this moment. Both of you, grab on." John said as he stretched out each of my hands.
"W-Why?" Asked Serena.
"Just do it," John said.
"Fine." Serena said as she grabbed on to John's hand.
"Silentium, Furtim" John muttered after Serena and Ariel grabbed his hands.
In that instant, they had turned invisible to the other enemies, and their magic power was also being hidden. This is the power of John's strongest stealth skill, Furtim. Combined with his Silencing Spell Silentium.
Serena gave him a confused look as it appeared as if nothing had happened, but when she attempted to question it, no sound came out.
John deactivated furtim and silentium to explain what just happened to Serena.
"What just happened?! I wasn't able to talk!" Said Serena after she realised that she was able to talk again.
"Relax, you're overreacting. All I did was make us invisible to anyone who wasn't cloaked with my Furtim spell and prevent any sound from travelling within a certain field. Luckily it worked since I'm using it on us and not the dungeon itself." John said.
"Overreacting? You just removed my voice and said something about us becoming invisible as if it were something normal and you expect me not to overreact?" Asked Serena.
"Ariel, took it pretty fine," John said as he looked at her.
"That's because I trust John." She replied.
"No, I don't think that's the case here, I trust John too but it's normal to react this way, right?" Serena said with a deeply confused expression.
'Crap, I should've made it seem like it was something harder to do.' John realized.
"Well, let's leave the overreacting to after we leave the dungeon. Besides, let's see if it will work in a dungeon. Now, let's go find the dungeon boss." John said.
"Yes!" Ariel Replied.
While Serena simply nodded her head.
'Is she alright?' John wondered.
John should be able to last over a few hours without magic stones, due to the current size of his mana pool. With the addition of magic stones, they should be fine.
'Well, guess I'll just have to find out.' John thought.
"Don't let go, no matter what. Furtim, Silentium." John said as he grabbed on to their hands.
The two nodded in response.
'Will this work or not? Time to find out.' John thought.
---------------------------------------------------
They walked for 10 minutes without deactivating the spells and finally encountered monsters. The monsters were unaware of their presence as they passed by them. They didn't even have to worry about the sound of their footsteps; it was convenient, way too convenient.
'With this, we should be able to easily conquer the dungeon... No... Even if we can get past them, there's no point if we can't beat the boss. Not to mention monsters of lower floors should be able to detect us. My spell does have a few loopholes, like smell for example.' John thought.
John noticed this as they walked past the goblins. They weren't able to see them, but they kept constantly sniffing the air as if they could smell them. It's a good strategy to get them to the boss's room on the early floors, but it won't be of much help after dropping a few more levels.
That being said, John wondered how many floors a dungeon has.
'Maybe Serena knows something about it.' He thought.
As John thought such things, they had finally arrived. A giant door much like the one they previously saw on the 1st floor which led to the entrance of the boss room.
Before we entered John decided to ask "Hey Serena, How many floors does a dungeon have?"
"The Highest recorded number on this one was 17. Those who completed the dungeons disappeared and never mentioned anything about it. However, there was a case, where a man who completed it said there were 20, but it was never confirmed." She replied.
'I see. So it's that sort of thing huh' John thought.
"You two ready?" John asked as he let go of their hands.
"Yes" They replied as they nodded.
"Then, Let's go," John said as he pushed open the doors of the boss room.
Much like the room of the 1st-floor boss, it was a big chamber. The only difference was now there was fire illuminating the Chamber and there was no longer a throne. Instead, there stood a motionless Goblin King in the middle of the chamber.
The Goblin King wore leather and iron armour and held a Giant iron sword in its hand.
"What, it's just a goblin king. I beat one of these already. They're weak and slo-".
Before John could finish, he was interrupted by the Goblin King who was rushing at them when they stepped inside its chamber.
"Something's wrong. He wasn't this fast before. He's a lot stronger. Serena Starting Casting. Ariel Prepare to use the cannon when I give the signal". John said.
The two nodded at what he said.
"Tch, I kind of regret underestimating you." John uttered.
After he said that John activated magic strengthening and circulated magic through his Daggers, before running at him.
"I'll hold him off! Tell me when you guys are ready!" John said loud enough for them to hear it as he approached it.
"Yes!" Said the two of them.
With the momentum from the dash, John parried the swing of his giant sword with his daggers. He had been supplying it with a lot more constant magic than usual, so they were stronger than ever.
Having only an iron sword, his sword broke on impact and during that opening. John swung both of his daggers together in an X motion and cut off both of his arms.
After that, he let out a roar filled with pain and rage. Now that he was unarmed he wouldn't be able to block any of the attacks Ariel or Serena would throw at him.
"We're Ready!" They shouted out.
John lept back to give Ariel and Serena the space they needed and at that moment; he felt a Cannon of wind pressure pass by on his right side, while a Fire lion ran by his left. The Target of these two insane spells was the Goblin Lord.
The first to hit the defenceless goblin lord was the wind cannon from Ariel. After being hit by all that wind Pressure, the goblin lord was sent flying to the wall which looked broken after impact.
The wind cannon was then followed up by the Fire Lion, which was significantly slower than it. But the Goblin Lord was already immobile, so it didn't matter. After the fire lion reached the Goblin lord, it bit on to him and began to burn his body.
Shortly after, the goblin lord's body had turned into a Big Purple Crystal. The Size Of a 500Ml water bottle, unlike the small ones which looked like 50Ml water bottles, in terms of size.
John picked up the magic stone and brought it back to the girls so they could see it and the Lion dispersed into the air. It was a really handy and strong spell. John thought that he would like to learn more about its concept.
"So, pretty big isn't it?" John asked as he showed them the magic stone.
"Wow... I guess it's what you'd expect when you fight a monster that strong. But John, you could've beaten it alone." Ariel said.
"Sure, I might have been able to beat it alone, but for how long? We need to improve our teamwork and he was a great practice. I feel like we make the strongest team!" John said with a bright smile on his face.
"Well then, how about we see how far we can go after 3 days? That's how long our food will last, if we ration it, it should be 6, just enough to come and go. But we'll stay here for 4 days depending on what you'd want." John said.
"Well, if everyone's fine with it, I don't mind... Staying 4 days." Said Ariel.
"It does look like it would serve as good teamwork training. Just make sure you don't underestimate dungeons too much." Said, Serena.
"Yes, Yes... You're always too serious, you need to smile more often." John said as he started to pull at her cheeks in an attempt to make it into a smile.
"Wha-! S-Stop!" She said with an embarrassed expression.
'So she can be cute if she tries.' John thought.
"Alright, my bad. Anyways, why don't we start making our way to the third floor? I wonder what awaits." John said as he eagerly walked ahead of them to find out.
"Ariel, I've been thinking about this but... Isn't John super strong?" Serena asked.
"Yes, John is super strong and kind, he always helps a person in need," Ariel replied as she looked at John with idolizing eyes.
"I see..? I don't know about the kind part but he is strong and helpful so I guess you're right." Said Serena as she stared at him.
"Huh? Did you two say something?" John asked when he was already on the other side of the chamber.
"Nothing!" They both replied as they smiled at each other.
'I wonder what they were talking about? Girls are girls... I wonder if I should add another party member to the party. It'd be nice if he was a guy. That way I'd also have someone to talk to like them. Maybe I should do that.' John wondered.
And so, they moved on to the third floor, and John thought about what to do after they leave the dungeon.
クリエイターの想い 
Renovator
Renovator In case you are thinking this is slow-paced. This is an adventurer novel. Taking the time to appreciate these details is what makes it truly best, at least that is what I believe.
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and that you are all are having a great day. :D
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