章 12: Levelling up
The Wandering Devil
Chapter: 12
Pa/ t reon details at the bottom of the chapter if you're interested I'll keep posting regardless.
Note: i'm looking for which new world to travel too very soon. Its mostly between Harry potter/DemonSlayer/Jujutsu Kaisen for now. Let me know what you think and where you would like to see Zephyrion travel to.
(Levelling up)
A large bestial creature came into view as I walked through a passageway.
I was currently on the seventeenth floor. Travelling it alone this time as Bell and Lili weren't quite ready for this level. I had been slowly and cautiously exploring new levels.
While it may be stupid considering my strength and magic. Unlike other adventurers who travelled in adventuring parties, I was alone.
Meaning if I went down to a level that gave even my strength difficulty. I could be easily swarmed without respite and I didn't know the levels of strength beyond the guild handbook of monsters.
This world had shown that the levels of strength were considerably higher than what I knew.
I had been descending to higher level floors much quicker, with me finally getting used to my strength and recalling my magic to a point I could easily use it. I was feeling confident.
I had gotten a few more contracts since the assassination last week and they had all been underwhelming. Compared to the first one at least. Perhaps having my first contract being so intense had set my expectations a bit high.
Naturally, they had been mundane. Money, gear or anything along those lines. In return, my demonic power had been growing with the contract completion.
Hestia had become much more clingy and flirtatious. Which I took full enjoyment of. I had also asked her to look at the strange seal that was on me. Which turned out to be using my own demonic power to strengthen itself.
I could sense the seal, but my demonic power refused to respond, resisting even the slightest attempt to probe it.
The force-feeding into the seal was unstoppable, which made me come to admire the art of sealing. It had always been shown as a powerful art but seeing it in action was insightful. I mean, the Big G himself was a master at it. Which showed how much power it held.
It was keeping me from the one thing that could make me immeasurably stronger, the power of destruction. I wasn't foolish enough to disregard such a potent powerful ability. I knew exactly what it could do.
Hestia couldn't do anything without releasing her arcanum as of now. To which she had surprisingly admitted she was ready to do it if it made me happy. It was definitely a wake-up call to how much she cared for me.
It was heartwarming and something I hadn't experienced before. Which was why I didn't let her risk being sent back to Tenkai by doing that. I would find another way.
Unfortunately, Danmachi didn't seem to have anyone great at sealing. Which was to be expected since magic was much more rare among adventurers.
My attention turned back to the creature. A car-sized muscled tiger with fur covering its large body. Sharp teeth gleamed as it opened its maw at the sight of me.
It suddenly got confused as all monsters did before the monster shook its head.
I believe this was a LigerFang. A tiger monster who was said to be on the level of a Minotaur. Depending on which floor the Minotaur was found on.
Which had admittedly been my target for today.
I finally levelled up yesterday. My stats reached a point that didn't leave much to gain if I continued.
I was now officially a level two, something Rose had a hard time processing. Though she had been much more chilled and a bit weird. She seemed to have taken to sending me strange glances that I didn't know how to interpret.
The LigerFang finally launched itself at me, making me dodge its powerful claw swipe. I sent a fast kick into its stomach that sent it flying back and through a large rock.
Yeah, I should really start going further.
Being overly cautious was for normal adventurers and my growth would magnify a lot if I went down further. Especially since my stat growth slowed down after becoming a level two.
It got back up and roared. I went to send a bolt of fire at it only for the wall behind me to burst. A large cow-headed humanoid burst through. An explosion of rubble caused dust to kick up for a moment.
Huh. Just the monster I had been looking for. What were the chances of this happening?
The Minotaur let out a thunderous roar that echoed through the floor and the LigerFang followed up by charging me from behind.
A LigerFang could take out a level two adventurer while the Minotaur on this floor was said to be able to take out a level three adventurer. Making it the bigger threat.
I sent a bolt of soft ice that froze instantly as it hit the LigerFang's leg, forcing him to trip over and roar in rage. It quickly went to tear the ice off its legs as I approached the Minotaur.
Its large arm swung at me, the air patting for its strike. The Minotaur was said to be slower but insanely strong. I easily slipped by and sent two fast jabs at its exposed ribs.
The Minotaur roared again, a faint glow coming out from its roar. Washing over me harmlessly. I grinned wildly as it sent a punch at me. Feeling confident I blocked it instead of dodging.
My arm was forced back a surprising amount but ultimately unharmed even as the floor below me cracked from the force. Its eyes widened and I kneed it hard enough to force it to bend over.
I had to quickly retreat as the LigerFang finally got out of its quick imprisonment and approached me rapidly. I easily stepped past its wild slash, grabbing its arm and using its considerable momentum to slam it down over my shoulder with only a bit of effort.
The Minotaur's massive body hit the ground with a force that sent cracks spidering across the dungeon floor. I barely had a moment to react before its colossal fist came hurtling toward my face.
I jerked my head to the side, dodging just in time, and countered with a powerful punch to its thick, muscled stomach.
The Minotaur's body folded over my fist slightly and was sent back from the force of my punch. A flash of intelligence flashed through its bestial eyes as its hand clutched its abdomen for a moment. Before it snarled in rage.
The LigerFang quickly jumped back onto its feet. It leapt at my back once more. Attempting to take advantage of my supposed opening.
There was a certain intelligence in the monster's eyes. I had noticed as I went lower in floor levels the monster became slightly more intelligent or perhaps conscious was a better word.
If my memory was correct and this world was the same as I knew. There were the Xeno monsters who were conscious. I wondered if these two would remember me if they became Xenos.
In one fluid motion, I turned, an image clear in my mind as I focused my intent. My Demonic energy spiked and I unleashed a powerful wave of fire from my palm.
The flames engulfed the LigerFang mid-leap, catching it off-guard as it couldn't dodge in its airborne state. its howl of pain echoed through the dungeon a moment later as it crashed to the cold dungeon floor, writhing and burning.
I had to be cautious with my magic, it could easily shatter the crystal if I wasn't careful. My demonic energy was incredibly potent and dense but also dangerously unstable. I had managed to gain control over roughly twenty-one per cent of my power, which significantly reduced the amount of energy I expended.
The Minotaur charged in as the LigerFang was burnt to death by my fire. Its fist was raised and the ground splintered from its heavy steps.
It was no wonder normal people couldn't take on monsters like this.
Its fist predictably swung towards me, but I avoided it and sent two jabs at its chest. I decided to end this little spar even as fun as it was. I had things to do. I could beat it with my physical capabilities but why do that when I had the cheat that was imagination magic?
A shape formed in front of me, quickly moulding into a see-through javelin with the red power of my demonic energy around it. The demonic construct became more solidified before shooting off with a burst of wind magic to make it even faster.
The Minotaur couldn't stop from its heavy charge towards me. It tried to bring its large arms into a blocking pose only for the demonic construct to stab through its defence as if it was a real javelin.
Dark monster blood sprayed from the large monster and the Minotaur found itself lodged into the dungeon wall. The demonic construct had blown out a large part of its stomach and impaled him.
It roared in pain and anger.
I let out a breath. My training to adapt to my devil strength and levelling up had been fruitful. My muscles only stung a little from the supernatural excursion. My grin was wide.
This has been a new experiment of mine. Since I had elemental magic down I had gone to explore what imagination magic could really offer. Suffice it to say my search into that particular subject was interesting.
I hadn't expected the Minotaur to give me a challenge considering my considerable strength. I had mainly wanted a sparring partner and to advance my exploration into the dungeon.
It also helped that I would be getting a lot of vali for both of these monsters. I had started my search for a house so that also opted me to try to make more money so that the house I could purchase would be better.
Rose had been extremely helpful on that front.
I flicked my hand at the writhing Minotaur and a blade of wind cut into its throat. Its struggles decreased as black blood spilt out of its opened-up throat rapidly.
Maybe I should have brought Lili, I retrieved both the monster's crystals. Putting them into a small bag I had with me.
One thing I'll forever be grateful for is that devil bodies don't produce waste. Well, not considering that I could still sweat a bit but beyond that I never spelt bad.
Imagine if I needed a shit in the middle of fighting all these monsters. I wonder how normal human adventurers dealt with that.
While they may be given super abilities by the gods' blessing they still produced waste. Sucks to be them in that case.
I glanced around the now silent floor in contemplation. I took in its odd terrain. Did Adventurers just go around shitting in corners of the dungeon? Would I need to worry about a rogue shit taken by a desperate adventurer escaping a mob of monsters?
The monsters on this floor were pretty strong and the only other boss on this floor besides the Minotaur was the Goliath, which was guarding the entrance to the safe haven on the eighteenth floor. It was rumoured to have the strength of a level four monster.
I was tempted to check the safe haven out before leaving, especially since I'd only been here for an hour. The usually long journey travelling down the floors was cut massively since I teleported.
Normally it took a couple of hours going at a fast pace to reach this floor.
My demonic energy was still mostly filled so I had my trump card in play. I hadn't dealt with any monster over level three so a part of me was curious to see how I would match up.
Despite my caution, I wasn't a coward who would run away against a monster who could actually give me a struggle. In fact, I think I needed it considering I had mostly fought beings weaker than me since coming here.
There was one problem with this, I didn't know where the entrance was… floor seventeen was a rather big floor after all. Ah, I was sure I could find it if I tried.
Maybe asking Rose for a map was a good idea.
An hour and ten minutes later, I finally reached the entrance to the eighteenth floor. The constant waves of monsters every five minutes slowed me down, but they were easy enough to defeat.
The gap between levels was vast and with my cheaty devil physique and magic, they stood no chance. I wasn't too worried about going too deep since I figured I could simply teleport back to Hestia.
Bell was taking a break to recover today. I didn't want to overwork him too much. So I didn't have to worry about him and Lili was doing whatever she did when we didn't go dungeon diving.
I would have to see about getting her out of that troublesome little familia.
My eyes trailed over the large pillars that formed into a gateway. A massive room stood on the other side. The ground was composed of grey dust. Presumably from the dungeon floor being shattered so many times by the Goliaths' strength.
I cautiously poked my head through, searching for any sign of a massive monster—one strong enough to have his own chamber. But all I found were cracked walls and no trace of life.
I took a step inside and onto the sand. On the far side of the large chamber, I noticed a doorway. It seemed that Goliath had been slain sometime in the past week or two.
The soft crunching of my boots against the thick layer of grey dust filled the eerily quiet that I had associated with the dungeon. My eyes trailed over the large ceiling. I didn't know the exact size of the Goliath but he must be pretty large.
As I approached the doorway on the far side, I felt a subtle shift in the oppressive dungeon atmosphere. The air grew slightly warmer and less oppressive, the weight of the dungeon seemed to lift a bit.
The sensation vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by a sudden, heavy weight pressing down on the surrounding area as the ground beneath began to tremble.
Blackness erupted in front of me as the ground burst open, a massive wall of darkness rising. I leapt back just in time, realising it was a colossal appendage emerging from the earth.
A giant head appeared next, its body crawling up from the ground with a speed such a large body shouldn't possess. Red burning eyes glaring down at me with intelligence.
Oh shit. My brain registered what I was seeing.
That didn't make sense. The Goliath could be explained as an unfortunate mishap, but the black variant was different, it was only ever summoned because of Hestia.
She wasn't down here, or at least I hoped she wasn't, so why had it appeared?
Its body quickly raised from the ground. Rising to its full height. A muscular body with tough black skin covering it gleaming dangerously. Steaming rose from its mouth as it stared at me.
There was a dust cloud at the Black Goliath's feet from the kicked-up dust. The Goliath alone was level four but the Black variant was firmly in the level five in terms of power.
This was going to be tricky. I knew the dungeon reacted strangely to me but this was different. Why has this happened now though? These were thoughts for later.
We were at a stalemate as the massive creature stared me down, and my eyes flickered to the archway.
I could make a run for it. I didn't know how strong I was anymore, especially since I had levelled up but defeating a level five monster was going to be a tough order.
I took a step back and the large monster blurred slamming a hand down in front of the archway which sent a shockwave of force outwards from the impact.
Ah well, I was never good at running anyway.
I punched a fist in his direction and a large ball of fire was sent towards its face. I found using my elemental attacks with movement helped with speed and impact.
The ball of fire hurtled toward its face, but the creature's massive arm blocked the attack, causing the demonic flames to splash against its thick flesh.
The attack did far less damage than I'd hoped, leaving only burn marks that began to fade as the monster's wounds slowly regenerated. It opened its mouth and let out a powerful roar.
A massive destructive shockwave bellowed out and headed towards me. My devil wings burst out of my back and I shot upwards, barely managing to avoid the large shockwave that swept under me.
I didn't waste time in sending a powerful blade of wind at its neck, instantly following up with a wave of fire that swept towards its chest. I think playing the role of a caster was the best option in this situation.
Its physical strength was above mine. Which wasn't surprising given the sheer size of it. I didn't know if I could affect it with my current physical capabilities so I was going to play it safe.
Unlike normal battles, I couldn't afford to play around.
The Goliath wisely decided to try to block the windblade to its throat. The blade of wind left a gash across its arm as the wave of fire impacted his chest. It roared out in pain. The wounds slowly sealing up.
It swung its arm out, forcing me to dodge as its fist tore through the air towards me. I didn't stop as I sent a bolt of pure demonic energy. It shot into the Goliath's hand blocked its trajectory into its face.
I noticed that its regeneration seemed to slow down as it was forced to heal multiple wounds. I checked my demonic energy capacity. I was still looking okay for now.
It roared and slammed both of its arms down. Kicking up a storm of sand and debris. Its gleaming eyes were the only indicator of its location, which was rapidly closing in on me.
A large bulky leg sweeper through my previous location as I bolted away, a large wave of air blowing away all of the kicked-up dust. It roared and let out a powerful shockwave from its mouth that closed in on me.
I dropped and found myself blown back as I only partially avoided it.
Looks like it's getting serious.
For some reason that made me feel excited.
-{Riveria Ljos Alf}-
A woman sat boredly on a tree perch. She was currently having a brief reprieve from dealing with her energetic familia. Her silky forest-green hair and jade-coloured eyes stood out.
The robes she wore couldn't hide the lithe but curvaceous body she possessed. Her skin was flawless in only a way a supernatural being could possess. Her glossy lips were thinned into a neutral line. Her eyes are sharp.
This woman was the level six adventurer known as Riveria. She was also the co-captain of the Loki Familia and a very powerful magic caster. She sat on a particularly large branch. Relaxing and enjoying the sound of nature.
She was currently close to the dungeon entrance since most people tended to stray away from there once entering. Rivera closed her eyes only for them to snap open a moment later as she heard a rumble.
Her long elven ears twitched. Sharp eyes snapped to where the source of the sound was coming from.
'The Goliath respawned already? Judging by the shaking someone must have set him off' She thought.
She slowly rose from her position, gracefully descending the tree branch. Riveria figured it was best she go investigate, after all the Goliath wasn't meant to reform for another week.
Some weaker adventuring party could have been caught off-guard.
With that in mind, she quickly made her way to the staircase that led up to Goliath's room.
Her unique green hair flashed behind her making her a green blur to the normal eye.
She rapidly made her way up the spiralling staircase and was ready to intervene on any party that may need help.
The scene she arrived at though gave her pause. Instead of a party of adventurers struggling against the large boss. Only one crimson-haired teenager who was barely avoiding its attacks.
Her sharp eyes were observing him as he kept switching between running and using some strange wings on his back.
"Some sort of spell?" she wondered, her thoughts racing as she watched the scene unfold.
Her suspicion was confirmed when a surge of magic erupted from the teenager's hands—a spell she didn't recognize. The unfamiliar magic collided with the Goliath's massive form, exploding against its skin in a shower of sparks.
But something was off. As the smoke cleared, she noticed the Goliath's skin wasn't its usual grey. It was pitch black.
"A Black Goliath? What is going on?" she thought, her confusion deepening.
She looked at the scene in confusion. Forgetting that she was meant to help out the teenager who struggled to dodge the Goliath's attacks. The Goliath seemed to ignore her in favour of killing the crimson-haired teenager.
The teenager waved his hands and three large spikes of ice formed, firing off at the large monster who was once again forced to dodge.
'Chantless casting?' Riveria thought, her eyes sparkling as she witnessed his spells.
Watching another mage in action was uncommon for her and if there was one thing that truly broke past her emotionless facade it was magic.
The next moment the teenager took advantage of the Goliath's position and sent a massive blade of wind that tore at its leg. On closer inspection, Riveria realised that the Goliath had many wounds building up.
'Such a powerful chantless spell.' She thought excitedly.
She noticed on closer inspection that even though the teenager had problems dodging, he had a wild excited grin on his face.
The Goliath released a roar that sent a massive shockwave, which just so happened to be in her direction. She prepared to dodge only for her eyes to widen as the teenager swooped in and easily carried her away.
They barely avoided the attack as the teenager held her close. she was frozen as he quickly carried her away.
As they moved, she couldn't help but idly notice something unusual about his skin. It wasn't like that of other humans. It was smooth and unblemished almost like hers.
This detail caught her attention, distracting her momentarily. She had always found human skin, and that of most other races, to be disgustingly flawed, a reason she despised being touched. But his skin was different, strangely perfect.
This was why she didn't throw him away in disgust or feel herself revolted at his touch.
Regaining her bearings she narrowed her eyes, jumping out of his grasp.
-{Zephyrion}-
The insanely hot elf escaped my grasp, which made me pause before mentally shrugging.
I had seen her blankly staring at the Black Goliath and had decided to save her when she seemingly had no intention of dodging the large shockwave.
My eyes briefly snapped to her ears. An elf?
How rare.
The elven girl raised her hand as the Goliath as she moved at a speed that was faster than me.
Was she casting magic? That was even rarer.
Magic in danmachi was expensive and rare to learn.
I decided to focus back on the battle as the Black Goliath continued to focus on me solely. Which made my belief that this had happened because of me more solid.
A construct of demonic energy formed into a javelin next to me and I threw it towards the large monster. Its regeneration was extremely slowed down now as the Goliath wracked up damage from my magic attacks.
With a flick of my wrist, I used my imagination magic to make the dust below me form into hundreds of small rocks. Using wind manipulation I sent them all blasting towards the Goliath as it easily blocked the demonic construct. The javelins dug into its thick skin.
The beast stumbled back as the hundreds of rocks bounced off its skin. The sheer amount forced him back. It roared again but this time a dark aura exploded out from its large form.
It leapt into the air and came crashing down on me, forcing me to dodge. I spun out of control as its fist swiped past, barely missing me. Relentless, it followed up with another punch.
I quickly summoned dust from the ground to form a crude stone shield, but it shattered on impact, buying me just enough time to dodge again. It roared and I felt my muscles burn as I strained myself to dodge again.
Next, an arm was descending on my position and I found myself struggling as I flew up. I quickly used the dust to form a giant fist with all of the dust and sent it hitting into the Goliath's face.
Using my imagination magic to manipulate existing objects as weapons was far less taxing on my demonic energy. Even creating elemental attacks purely from magic was draining:
Despite the name of my magic, I couldn't create anything more than a basic demonic construct, which was just hardened magic in a fixed shape, and I lacked the ability to alter the composition of an item.
The reason it was called imagination magic was because it used your imagination to make effects happen. It wasn't true imagination magic that could make any thought into a reality I had come to learn, unfortunately. It was still extremely powerful.
My demonic power was starting to run low. I had done a large amount of damage but I needed to be more tactical.
The attack only staggered the Black Goliath, which allowed me to send two more wind blades at both its head and legs. Naturally, its arm blocked the one directed at its throat but a large spray of black blood exploded out of its legs from the attack.
The attacks I launched now were weaker than the ones I started with, as I was trying to conserve demonic energy. The creature recovered quickly, lashing out with a kick that I barely managed to jump over, only to be forced back as its fist swept through the air, narrowly missing me.
Taking me off guard the Black Goliath clapped its hand and a shockwave far larger than the one it used with its mouth exploded out. I summoned the dust to form into rocks but they easily shattered and I was sent slamming into the dungeon wall.
That hurt.
Blood seeped from my forehead and my hand was brought up to it. I stared at the blood that came from my forehead. My vision was tinged with red as a rage bubbled through me.
Foolishly I abandoned all sense, gritting my teeth as I exploded up. Swinging my arms and sending two powerful wind blasts that sent its approaching arms away. I reeled my hand back and threw a punch that carried all my strength.
The punch surprisingly managed to force the Goliath to take a step back. I went to send another punch only for it to open its mouth and send me spiralling away with a large shockwave.
My rage grew, a deep, searing fury that burned like molten lava, filling me with boundless power. The aches in my muscles vanished, and any concern for my demonic energy faded into the background.
With a primal roar of fury, I swept both arms forward, unleashing a massive tsunami of flames that rose and crashed down upon the approaching Black Goliath, swallowing it whole.
I felt a vicious rage as I heard its howls of pain. My victory didn't last long as a massive burnt fist exploded out and hit me. My body was searing with pain as I was flung back from the force.
The Black Goliath stepped out, its entire body burnt beyond repair and mutilated, its regeneration struggling to do anything. It slowly hobbled over to me and I tried to get up only to be smashed down as its leg descended on me.
Every moment seemed to cause the large monster intense amounts of agony.
My demonic energy was low in capacity. I had enough for a few more attacks and it wouldn't be enough to do anything as big as I had just done.
I had performed multiple dozens of elemental spells since the start of this battle and that large huge attack had been a lot.
That fire attack could have easily enveloped multiple houses with its sheer size. The only reason it was still standing was because of its thick skin and the monster being stronger than me. Even now, it looked to be on its last legs.
Just as it's foot was about to descend again I managed to use the rage I had to push myself away.
Successfully dodging the kick.
It turned to me and looked ready to release a massive shockwave from its mouth only to stagger back as a large explosion of ice hit it.
"Unleashed spears of absolute cold, pierce my enemies. Cover the earth with your majestic white embrace. Freeze, Fimbulvetr!" A soft voice that was pleasant to my ears rang out.
The Black Goliath had been able to turn to her and make its approach. Only stopping as I sent a small bolt of fire at it, its burning eyes looking between me and the elven girl indecisively which gave her time to cast.
A blast of Ice exploded out, freezing everything in its path and easily slamming into the weakened Black Goliath. Ice travelled up its body and it tried to stumble away only to realise its legs were frozen solid.
My eyes took it all in, the maddening rage inside feeling unrestrained pleasure at its demise.
The Black Goliath was frozen solid a moment later, its burning eyes stuck on me.
The searching rage calmed down at the sight and left me reeling. I took a shaky breath to calm myself down.
Well, that worked out.
I was definitely going to have bruises. I nearly sighed.
Hestia wasn't going to be happy.
-END-
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