For the better part of three days, everything proceeded as planned without any major hiccups occurring at all. Haruhime and Fenrir were making steady progress and had gotten to the point where they could coordinate to take down a Bloodsaurus within thirty seconds. The overall efficiency of the group had increased a great deal, considering that they were doing nothing but killing the same monster every single day, and by the time Vahn was considering calling the expedition to a close they had secured materials from 171 Bloodsaurus.
This brought the accumulated wealth to officially break through the one-billion Valis mark, assuming the introduction of such a large amount of resources flooding the market and didn't affect the price. Regardless, as they wouldn't be selling the materials, it didn't really matter and the most important thing was that it would sustain the network's function for years to come without having to worry about supplies. Since Vahn would periodically farm Bloodsaurus in the future, he could even focus on expanding the network a fair amount while stockpiling the materials for future use.
The thing Vahn was most enthused about, however, was the fact he had broken through a previously major threshold in his Origin Point reserves and now had a stockpile of 1,148,802OP sitting within his system interface. Vahn felt a powerful compulsion to spend the OP to try and obtain another item like [Enkidu] or to test his luck by spending the 'extra' 148k OP on the gacha. However, considering that most of the items he had an interest in cost several million OP, Vahn decided to stockpile it for the time being. There was no way of knowing what kind of enemies and situations he would face in the future, so having a large reserve was always beneficial. Just being able to purchase extra [Effigy of the Hero] was a great benefit in protecting the people he cared about.
Vahn had long learned that purchasing skills didn't actually give him the ability to use them freely and required that he actually comprehend how to use it through his own actions. This allowed him to understand that, just like magic, he should theoretically be able to use any kind of skill through concerted efforts and training. The benefit of purchasing it through the system just allowed him to have a much better understanding of the skill he was trying to learn and would walk him through the necessary steps to obtain mastery, just like he had for [Hands of Nirvana].
This excited Vahn a great deal but also raised a few red flags in his plan to help the girls around him become stronger. Though he might be able to adapt any skill for his own use, this didn't mean others would be able to emulate it, even if he put a lot of effort into training them. Vahn needed a better understanding of his own capabilities and needed to work more closely with the girls to see if they would be able to adapt his teachings and put them to practical use, perhaps with the support and influence of the [Mentor] Development Ability. Though it unnerved him slightly, Haruhime was scarily devoted to him so Vahn planned to teach her the magic system he would learn from Eva in the future. Lili was also, technically, his apprentice since their first meeting, so Vahn was planning to teach her a few things as well and hoped they would be able to learn how to use his [Shundo].
The reason why it was important to teach them both was due to the fact that Haruhime, though she had incredible magic potential, had already filled up all her magic slots. The maximum number of magic most people could use, assuming they ever reached that point, was a total of three spells. If Haruhime was able to learn [Shundo], it would be powerful evidence proving that he could adapt the system of another world to Danmachi without going against the laws of the world. As for Lili, Vahn knew she would probably be adversely affected when she learned he had taken another 'disciple' without paying any attention to his original student. Vahn's [Mentor] ability could now influence two people, so he planned to train them both at the same time in the hopes they would develop as friends and rivals.
Vahn knew that, if his experiments had conclusive results, he would end up establishing a completely new school of thought and introduce an entirely unique magic system into the power structure of the world. To prevent the information from reaching his enemies, he would have to be very selective in what he decided to teach others and would likely have to spend years refining the abilities he developed to be used by other people. It was a strange thought, but Vahn could imagine the world a thousand years from now being changed drastically by the actions he was taking today. There might very well be magic chants in the future that use the name of himself, and his allies, to confer power into the spells.
---
After cleaning up their camp, Vahn gathered everyone for a short pep talk before they all began making their way to the surface. Since they had already achieved their intended purpose, they were going to try and bypass as many monsters as possible to ensure they were able to exit the Dungeon expediently. Vahn had been feeling a strange sensation in the back of his mind and had been cautioning the girls over the last three days about paying attention to any abnormalities they might sense. He couldn't shake the feeling that, while they had been hunting Bloodsaurus, Vahn and his companions had been being observed by a force outside his perception. There was a possibility it could be Freya, but Vahn assumed it was likely related to the monster woman he had seen previously. He kept having the strangest thought that she was angry with him for stealing her bath water...
---
This was the first time Vahn was venturing up through the somewhat frustrating layout of the Great Fall while they were being assaulted omnidirectionally by monsters. Though their trip down hadn't exactly been easy, it was far more annoying to navigate the floor upwards since there were various elevated platforms that were used by monsters to attack them from a higher vantage point. If Vahn had been alone, he would have simply turned into his Báihǔ form and broken through the floors after several minutes of using Shundo. There was always the option of carrying the weaker girls along with him, but Vahn didn't want to risk accidentally throwing everyone into a dangerous situation just because of his impatience.
The path they had taken on their descent had changed since they had passed through it, so Vahn had to reroute the group along another path, hoping that it would eventually take them upwards. This was the reason why the Dungeon was known as the 'Living Labyrinth', as it was able to change form, repair itself over time, and even spawn monsters to take advantage of the situation of Adventurers. Vahn could see, while using [Eyes of Truth], there was a large network of mana circuits that ran through every single wall, floor, and ceiling, so he knew it was likely the case that the Dungeon was a living entity. Knowing he was casually walking through its body made Vahn feel a little disconcerted, but he threw the matter to the back of his mind since he had no intentions of never returning.
As the group passed near a cliff at the back of the waterfall, Ais suddenly jumped high into the air and intercepted a red blur that had been moving so fast that Vahn hadn't even had time to pass any orders before it was nearly within their defensive perimeter. Other than his instincts flaring up, Vahn had been almost unable to react and it was Riveria who shouted, "Close the formation, stay together!" Vahn had seen the monster that Ais had struck down and immediately understood what was going on so he compressed his domain and increased the 'surface tension' of the outside of his domain to act more like a barrier. Vahn could put the same amount of energy into expanding his domain to the limit as he could compressing it to a 1/47th of the maximum size. This made the energy within his domain so dense that it was visible and allowed him to exercise a certain degree of control over the elemental energies contained within.
Vahn issued the order, "We need to move forward quickly, don't tarry in one spot for too long! Let's move!" As he shouted his order, three more blurs smashed into the periphery of his domain and immediately burst into flame from the concentrated fire elemental energies. Vahn was happy his plan had worked and everyone began to move forward at a fast pace as several other monsters suicide bombed them from the top of the cliff. The monsters were a species known as Iguazu, crimson swallow monsters that were nicknamed the 'Invisible Reaper' because of how fast they were able to move. Even though they were only Level 2, they could dive at speeds rivaling a peak Level 4 and far exceeded the limits of their own bodies in order to kill their enemies. Because of their super-sonic speeds, even if the Iguazu missed their targets, they would splatter against the floor of the Dungeon and immediately die.
Fortunately, it didn't seem like there was a large flock in the area so there were only a few dozens of the kamikaze creatures slamming into Vahn's domain before bursting into flames. Though the tension of his 'barrier' wasn't actually that strong, it was the same principle for why his arrows broke when they struck the water at high speeds. The sudden increase in friction immediately decelerated the diving monsters and caused their bodies to shatter as a result. This, unfortunately, had the downside of blood and gore raining down on their heads from above. Vahn did his best to sweep away the debris, but a fair amount got through and Lefiya eventually collapsed from her squeamishness. Before Vahn reached forward to pick her up, Ryuu had grabbed her and carried Lefiya under her arm after throwing the [Heal] staff toward Vahn to stow away.
After around seven minutes, the party managed to clear through the area of the cliff and the monsters immediately ceased their pursuit. Luckily, they were simply very territorial and wouldn't chase Adventurers far beyond the area of their established nests. Unfortunately, the Dungeon didn't seem to be willing to give them any time to rest and, the moment the group slowed down to clean up, Vahn sensed an energy convergence on their position. With a wave of his hand, Vahn pulled out his [Lævateinn] and shouted, "Monster Party incoming! Close up the formation! Riveria, barrier magic! Haruhime, prepare [Uchide no Kozuchi] and use it on me, Riveria, Ais, Tiona, and TIone!"
Lefiya was currently out of commision, so everyone surrounded her in a loose circle while Riveria chanted her barrier magic without questioning Vahn's order. Several seconds later, cracks began to appear in the walls, floor, and ceiling as hundreds of monsters began to spawn in a massive wave all around the party. Because they were in a large corridor, where there wasn't any water, the composition of the enemies consisted of Blue Crabs, Devil Mosquitos, and a few Light Quartz. Seeing this, Vahn felt his brain buzz because it would be a very difficult composition to deal with without Lefiya using her magic to thin the herd.
The Blue Crabs were very durable and had a high resistance to penetrating attacks and magic, making their only weakness crushing blows. Devil Mosquitos weren't a major threat, and many would simply die after they got caught up in the aftermath of other attacks. However, it only took a single mosquito getting through their defenses to spell disaster. The most problematic enemies were the relatively rare Light Quartzes that were present. They looked like luminescent crystals that defied gravity as they floated about and used powerful light magic beams to pelt at enemies from a distance. With the Blue Crabs leading the charge, and a large amount of Devil Mosquitos blocking the air, the Light Quartzes immediately began barraging the shield Riveria had erected with their magic from several hundred meters away.
Vahn's mind raced as he thought about possible ways to get through the danger before resolving himself and saying, "We'll probably be able to break through by having Ais clear a path, but I think it will be better if I get outside of the barrier and fight alone..." Ais frowned at Vahn's words and said, "I am stronger than you, it is better if I go." Vahn shook his head and looked around at everyone with a confident smile appearing on his face as he transformed into his Xuánwǔ form and seated his [Lævateinn] on his shoulder and continuing, "It's moments like this where I have the opportunity to shine. I'm the only one that can move through the barrier without Riveria having to lower it, and my fighting style isn't very 'friendly' to my allies. Protect everyone within the barrier, just in case anything happens, and leave this to me. If I don't get a chance to show off every now and then, how will I be able to hold up my head around you girls in the future~?"
Before anyone could oppose his words, Vahn set down some recovery items to help Lefiya before patting Haruhime's and Fenrir's heads and moving to the periphery of Riveria's barrier with Shundo. Riveria showed a serious expression on her face as she watched Vahn place his palm against her 'absolute' barrier and phase through it as if it was a thin veil of water. Her brow twitched and she decided to force an answer out of Vahn later but, for now, she just continued to maintain the barrier so he could fight without worry.
With Haruhime's [Uchide no Kozuchi] active, Vahn's parameters were comparable to someone in the middle range of Level 4. Though more than 30% of this was in his magic parameter, this didn't pose a problem at all for Vahn who was currently swinging around his [Lævateinn] with impunity. The perpetual flames spread from the massive claymore and, even though they weren't super effective on the Blue Crabs, they were still causing constant damage and burning away the majority of the Devil Mosquitos. As they were the biggest threat, Vahn had focused his efforts on the Light Quartzes in the back and had smashed through their crystalline structure with his fist and caused them to explode from the inside.
Vahn very quickly realized he would eventually get overwhelmed by the number of enemies he was having to dodge, as Shundo wasn't exactly a cheap skill to use if it was spammed constantly. Every swipe of [Lævateinn] drained a portion of his mana and he was already chugging potions every time he swept through and created a clearing in the massive horde of monsters. Fortunately, though they were resistant to normal piercing, [Lævateinn] had the ability 'Explosive Thrust', which allowed Vahn to aim at the gaps in the massive claw of the Blue Crabs to explode their relatively fragile faces. Because of the excess amount of flames dancing about, Vahn had long been reduced to nothing but a pair of small shorts as he madly danced about and butchered as many enemies as he could.
His [Heart of the Eternal Flame] was pumping a massive amount of oxygen through his body and Vahn's mind had long turned cold as a state of absolute focus took over his mind. Regardless, even though he was nearly emotionless at this moment, Vahn felt a powerful excitement and knew his face was stuck in a perpetual smile. Even when a Light Quartz managed to strike his back directly with the powerful beam of energy, Vahn just released a laugh before disappearing from his spot and reappearing behind the monster and smashing into it with his fist. Vahn could already start to see the cracks in his black scales and knew it wouldn't be long before this fight was concluded.
The fight had only been going on for around five minutes, but Vahn felt like it had been hours as a powerful feeling of exhaustion had already settled inside his body. The cracks on his body had finally reached a critical level and he stowed away his [Lævateinn] so that it wouldn't be lost as a result. Afraid that the girls might try to come to his aide too soon, Vahn shouted out, "STAY INSIDE THE BARRIER!" as his body erupted in a burst of vermillion flames that immediately turned the eleven Blue Crabs surrounding him into ashes. Seeing the sight, Vahn felt a powerful excitement overwhelm him as he pushed the flames through his domain, while also doing his best to contain them within the domain at the same time.
Though it didn't immediately affect the monsters within the domain, it wasn't long before the metallic bodies of the Blue Crabs began to glow with a fiery red as they shrieked in loud and garbled noises while bumping into each other and trying to drag their bodies along the ground. As their bodies began to melt, some of them even stuck together from the impact of colliding with each other and they made a garbled mess of a monster that eventually erupted into clouds of purple dust as even their magic cores were melted. Seeing this, Vahn smiled even though it felt like his own body was beginning to break down from the powerful energy erupting from his core. He was drawing deep and labored breaths as he controlled the vermillion flames to clear out the majority of monsters before eventually having to dispel the form due to a lack of energy.
Using what remained of his reserves, Vahn downed a mana potion and ran over to the barrier and pressing his palm against it before returning to the safety of its interior. Though he had also burned the loot items, Vahn had dealt with the vast majority of the monsters and there was no longer any real danger present. It was actually more troublesome that he had turned a large part of the corridor into molten stone and they would have to wait for it to eventually cool down unless they wanted to backtrack through the cliffs where the Iguazu were located. There was now a powerful wind passing through the corridor, as a result of the temperature differential between the interior of the corridor and the outside, so Riveria was still maintaining her barrier even though there were several monsters knocking against it.
Soon after he entered the safety of the barrier, Vahn saw two brown blurs tackle him and he collided with the pale golden barrier behind him as he instinctively tried to free himself from their grasp. Both Tiona and Tione had fervent looks in their eyes after witnessing Vahn's performance and, considering the fact that he was currently naked, they couldn't resist their urges at all. As he was in a very weak state, there wasn't anything Vahn could do against the two 'fierce' Amazons and he could feel his bones creaking slightly from their embrace. Tiona was breathing heavily as she said, "Vahn...you're so amazing...so amazing..." Tione seemed to agree with Tiona's sentiments and even used the opportunity to seal Vahn's mouth with a kiss before they both received a powerful impact from the blunt side of Ais's weapon.
Both girls crouched to the ground and nursed the bumps on their heads with tears in their eyes as Ais said, "Vahn, clothes..." Though she was showing proper restraint, Vahn could see a similar glow on Ais's face as she stared down at his uncovered figure with a glint in her eyes. Vahn immediately wore some clothing and complained to himself for his oversight yet again. Every time he turned into the Vermillion Bird form, Vahn's equipment would be completely destroyed. This wasn't even the first time it had happened, but he had been in too much of a hurry to return to the barrier and hadn't even concerned himself with the fact he was still naked. Fortunately, it seemed like Lefiya had recovered from her earlier bout of nausea and was now perfectly fine, as Vahn considered her crimson face to be her 'default' state after being around her for the last few days.
To prevent Tiona and Tione from losing their sensibilities, Vahn was sitting on the ground meditating while Fenrir sat in his lap with her hair raised as she glared at the two sheepish girls. Enough time passed that Riveria could no longer maintain her barrier and she said, "Ais, Tiona, Tione, deal with the remaining enemies. We'll set a temporary camp here and hope that the Dungeon doesn't cause us any trouble for the time being. If you sense anything, Vahn, let us know immediately and we'll retreat as fast as possible." Vahn nodded his head slightly, without opening his eyes, as he focused on the indiscernible words of the [Mantra of Eternity] that resonated deep within his soul.
If he could rest for around three hours, Vahn could completely recover his energy reserves and continue fighting, though the mental burden would be rather immense. This was the reason why Vahn wasn't able to freely traverse the deeper floors of the Dungeon that, depending on the situations he would face, there was also a chance he would run out of energy in a pinch. Though he could avoid most dangers with Shundo, it wasn't uncommon for the Dungeon to actually seal off rooms in the deeper floors. Unless you were able to deal with the monsters that spawned within the sealed room, you wouldn't be able to escape at all. Such situations often had a variant present as well, so it would spell the end for Vahn if he was caught in that kind of trap while trying to escape his enemies.
To speed up his recovery, Ryuu was using [Noah Heal] on Vahn's back so that he wouldn't have to waste any energy recovering his own stamina. Vahn could take items like [Senzu Bean]s to replenish such things, but he let Ryuu do as she pleased since she seemed to be in a tense state at the moment. Her aura was somewhat wispy and Vahn knew she had been impacted from watching his battle earlier. He knew she had a desire to grow stronger and this would likely serve as the catalyst for her increasing the amount of training she underwent in the future.
Ryuu was only 19 and would easily be able to achieve Level 5 within a few months if she made the effort. If she waited for him to become stronger, Vahn would even be able to help her exceed her current potential by helping to focus on her Innates. When they returned to the surface, Vahn decided to draw up plans with Tsubaki and Riveria to come up with a method to help stimulate the growth of the girls. As even Tsubaki wanted to become much stronger now, it was worth putting in the effort to understanding how Innates could be awakened reliably.
After around two hours, Vahn could sense energy beginning to converge on them again so he immediately stood up and said, "We need to move, now. I don't understand why, but the Dungeon itself seems to be targetting us currently. Ais, take point, we're going to be moving through these floors until we reach the 'Large Tree Labyrinth' on the 24th floor. We can't stay here any longer or we'll risk being overwhelmed." Without having to explain further, everyone began to move according to Vahn's orders and they began running through the Dungeon at a steady pace. Since Lefiya was the slowest in the group, she was being carried by Tione while Vahn carried both Haruhime and Fenrir. Riveria, though she was a mage, actually had more than a thousand agility more than Vahn, so she easily kept pace with the group.
---
A few minutes after the group escaped the corridor, several cracks began to appear in the walls, though not to the extent of a Monster Party. Instead, there were seven large monsters that looked like variant Mermen. Unlike the traditional 2m tall monsters, they were all more than 3m tall and, instead of blue scales, they each had red scales that were covered in horn-like protrusions. More than a fish, they had an appearance closer to dragons as they reached into the walls of the Dungeon and pulled out terrifying nature weapons in the form of tridents. The biggest difference between them and normal Mermen was the fact that they had horns on their heads and long tails growing out of their backsides.
Of course, these were all purely cosmetic and the most important thing was that they were all much stronger, faster, and smarter than their lesser counterparts. One of them was slightly larger than the rest and carried a giant curved axe and a shield that looked like a sea urchin. Communicating in a unique language of their own, the larger Merman issued orders to the rest of the group before they began to charge forward at a pace comparable to Level 4 Adventurers. Their goal was very simple, kill the intruders that had caused severe damage to the Dungeon. Vahn hadn't done enough damage to incite the Dungeon into spawning a Juggernaut, but it was still enough to cause it to activate its defense systems and try to eliminate, not just him, but the entire group...
(A/N: Btw, how are we losing in popularity to novels that update chapters with less than a thousand words xD? I'm pumping out around 14k words a day and we're rank 7 behind several broken translations that are being bolstered by bots!)
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Such wealth~!','BANZAI!!!!','Dungeon's Defense Mechanisms')
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The group continued to ascend the Dungeon while doing their best to avoid combat as much as possible. Since Vahn was carrying two people, he wasn't able to make use of his archery and instead focused on 'cooking' the monsters by converging fire elements into their eyes, ears, and mouths, while Ais and Tiona cleared the path. For weaker monsters, he could simply stun them with a pulse of his intent so they were making fast progress and eventually reached the stairs leading to the 26th floor above. However, before they were actually able to reach the entrance to the staircase, Vahn sensed a projectile enter the periphery of his domain and immediately ducked to avoid the red trident that pierced the space where his head had been.
From the water at the sides, Vahn sensed several strong presences converging on their position and shouted, "Enemy ambush, they're in the water...I sense seven monsters, likely variant species!" Using Shundo, Vahn broke formation and retreated to the relative safety of the corridor before placing down Haruhime and Fenrir. It would have taken just a few seconds for them to also reach the door, but everyone except Tione stood their ground and prepared to intercept the enemies. Vahn nodded his head and pat the top of the two girls' heads and said, "Fenrir, protect Haruhime within this corridor. Haruhime, renew your [Uchide no Kozuchi] on Ais, Tiona, Tione, Riveria, and Ryuu. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
Tione arrived soon after and dropped off Lefiya before telling her to cast a barrier before rejoining the fight. Vahn had already returned with the use of [Shundo] and was currently helping support Riveria in the middle distance while Ais and Tiona were fending off the other enemies. Riveria was no stranger when it came to avoiding danger at a close range, and she was actually able to dodge several needle-like projectiles from the enemies without much effort. With the help of her [Concurrent Chanting], she had already applied [Veil Breath] to everyone and was now doing her best to evade attacks and chant her attack magic at the same time.
From first glance, Vahn couldn't tell what kind of monsters the seven were, but they looked like a combination between a Red Wyvern and a Merman. They each stood three meters tall and were covered in a dense assortment of red scales. Also, unlike the normal variant Mermen, they had long tails that were covered in scales and also had several spiked bones sticking out of the end. Though they weren't that proficient with them, the ferocity of their attacks made the nature weapons they were wielding dangerous tools. Without the support of Xuánwǔ form, and his equipment, Vahn wouldn't be able to fend off their attacks and buy time for Riveria.
Things weren't all bad, however, as Ais had already defeated one of the two enemies she had been fighting and was currently dueling against what looked like the leader of the group. Though they were stronger than normal, the monsters were only Level 4 and weren't a match for the agile Ais and her ridiculously powerful strikes. Because they seemed to have the blood of a dragon running through their veins, Ais's [Avenger] and [Gram] were in full effect and she had managed to cut through both the weapon and body of what Vahn was referring to as 'Draconic Mermen'.
A few tens of seconds into the fight, Vahn felt a surge of power pass through his body and this marked the official turn of the fight in their favor. Tione had already rejoined the fight alongside Tiona and they were fighting against a group of three monsters while showing commendable coordination with each other. They also received Haruhime's buff magic and were able to get an immediate advantage against the enemies they had been in a stalemate against. Ais, however, was the fastest on the uptake and had managed to decapitate the Draconic Merman Captain with a swift blow. It's head danced through the air with an incredulous expression on its face before it splashed into the water at the side.
With the fall of their captain, the surviving five monsters tried to flee by diving into the water at the sides, but they were quickly followed by both Tione and Tiona who dove in after them. Riveria had finished her chant and blasted the small lake and froze the entire volume of water contained within, including the two monsters that had fled into its depths. This left three remaining, the ones that were being targetted by Tiona and Tione. They had tried to put up resistance against the Amazon sisters, using their home-field advantage, but Tione was surprisingly more agile than any of them were able to deal with. Tiona had a bit of trouble, but she was able to avoid taking any fatal blows and had managed to steal one of the tridents before planting it into the belly of its owner.
Though Vahn was using [Wound Transfer] to absorb the damage from their bodies, both girls were getting the benefit of their respective [Berserk] skills as time passed. After three silent minutes, at least on the surface of the water, both girls popped out from the surface with smiling faces before swimming to the shore. Once the situation became a 2v2, they were easily able to deal with the surviving monsters using their coordinated attacks. After losing their Captain, the other Draconic Mermen had become decidedly weaker and it was only a matter of time before they fell.
It wasn't necessary, but Vahn helped Tiona and Tione out of the water before noticing they had both lost their waist cloths. They had probably ditched them for increased mobility in the water and now he got a clear view of their wide hips, toned thighs, and fleshy butts. Though Tione had longer hair, and larger breasts, the rest of their body had filled out in much the same manner and it made Vahn's brain buzz slightly seeing them in what amounted to swimsuits. He set the matter aside for now, however, as the group made their way to the safety of the corridor before the Dungeon threw anything else their way.
While they were making their way up the stairs, Vahn explained in a serious tone, "I have a feeling this isn't going to be the end of our troubles. I can't imagine the Dungeon can keep throwing powerful monsters like that at us, but stay on your toes until we reach Rivira. There is a good chance those monsters were only spawned by the Dungeon after I had damaged it a great deal. However, it doesn't hurt to assume there is a greater scheme afoot. Everyone, make sure you have the [Effigy of the Hero] that I had given you..."
Hearing Vahn's words, everyone reached into their various pouches, packs, pockets, and breasts, to show they still had their effigies. Vahn gave a satisfactory nod before confirming that Fenrir also had her's safely stowed away in the small pouch at her hip. Now that he was positive everyone had their failsafe, Vahn turned to Riveria and said, "If you can, please try to keep up [Veil Breath] at all times when we are on the floors themselves. I'll make sure to scout the area, but we need to be prepared for any sneak attacks that might come our way. I'll supplement your mana to the best of my ability and we'll rest for up to two hours between floors." Riveria nodded her head and started casting her chant for everyone present.
Vahn gave Riveria a grateful look before addressing everyone else, "Tiona, I want you to move to the backline and replace Ryuu for the time being. Ryuu can fight better at the mid-range than you and your instincts will be useful if any other sneak attacks appear from behind. Ais, Tione, Ryuu, you three will make up the vanguard, but try to stay within 20m of the group in case of emergencies. I need to keep my hands free, so we'll slow our pace to match Lefiya, Haruhime, and Fenrir. The most important thing is that we all stay together so that Riveria can use her barrier magic, if necessary."
After reshuffling the formation, everyone entered the 26th floor proper and began clearing a path to the 25th floor. Lefiya had apologized several times for being 'useless', but Vahn had just shaken his head and stated in a gentle tone, "Lefiya, there is no sense in beating yourself up over your performance. The most important thing is that you use it to shape the person you want to be in the future. As long as you continue striving to become stronger, you can rely on all of us to support you." Though there was a chance she would 'overload', Vahn still pat Lefiya on the head before turning his attention to a Harpy and pinning an arrow between its breasts.
Lefiya tightly gripped her [Heal] within her tiny hands for several seconds as a serious expression colored her face with a confident glow. She didn't cast it too often, but Lefiya began chanting her [Arcs Ray] magic to target distant enemies instead of standing in the backline. Though she would eat away at her reserves, she knew Vahn would be able to support her mana if it became necessary for her to use her AoE magic. She didn't want to continue being 'useless' and wanted to believe in Vahn's words. He had previously offered to help her become stronger and, because she had seen the changes in the other girls, Lefiya knew she too could change and become someone everybody could rely on...
Fortunately, the Dungeon seemed to have returned to normal and the group was able to progress relatively easily through the 26th floor before entering the stairwell leading up to the 25th. As he had suggested, everyone sat down to take a break and Vahn passed out snacks. As they had still been 'excited' from earlier, Vahn ended up being sandwiched by Tione and Tiona, though they had enough self-restraint to prevent themselves from doing anything 'problematic'. They just cuddled up with him and rested with their eyes closed against Vahn's shoulders. He was nearly 10cm taller than they were now, so it was very 'convenient' for them to do so. As for Vahn, he was just happy that Tione was more 'accepted' in the group now, as he had never really blamed her for her mistake in the past.
As he hadn't been using that much of his own energy, Vahn had managed to recover after resting for an hour and spent the remaining time helping replenish the reserves of others. His ability to recover his source energy far exceeded the traditional regeneration of the others who relied on [Spirit Healing] as their only method of recovery, other than rest. Since his source energy was far purer than their mana, Vahn was able to restore their reserves without expending that much of his own energy. He had noticed this 'discrepancy' in the past and it made him a little frustrated since, when he cast magic, his efficiency was actually terrible and it cost him a large amount of energy to produce a much weaker result.
Because he knew the actual values of the girls' mana, after taking into consideration their magic stat and abilities, Vahn was able to understand he could convert a single 'point' of source energy into ten 'points' of mana. This should indicate that, if he used the same output in his magic, his spells should be ten times as strong as normal. Instead, perhaps due to his lack of comprehension, Vahn would be severely drained as a result of his casting and the effect wasn't even half the originals. When he returned to the surface, other than forging and preparing for the wedding, Vahn needed to spend time experimenting with his magic and developing a better understanding of how to use his own source energy. His actual control over elemental energies was much higher than even Riveria's, so it was a little difficult to understand why he had trouble achieving similar results...
The 25th floor also hadn't offered any real challenge for the party, but Vahn still had everyone keep their senses trained for the time being. Complacency, especially after having overcome a dangerous situation, was the most dangerous mindset a person could cultivate. Vahn couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong and, considering his past experience with such things, kept his mind open and his attention focused on the scouting out everything within his domain. Even when they had stopped to rest, Vahn continued scanning the surroundings while brushing Fenrir's fur. She was especially stressed out, likely due to her connection with him, so Vahn was trying to stay calm to help ease her mind. He had the benefit of [Will of the Emperor], so it wasn't actually that difficult to inhibit his own emotions and focus his thoughts on his domain.
Though it was rather early, Vahn decided that it would be a better idea to set up camp before trying to clear the remaining floors the following day. Everyone was mentally drained from the earlier Monster Party, and successive ambush, so Vahn wanted them to rest and recuperate. Instead of using tents, everyone slept on futons that Vahn had set out on the Dungeon floor while he kept the place warm with his domain. Even though it wouldn't inhibit their response time by much, setting up a traditional camp would potentially cost them precious seconds if something actually happened. The girls also slept in the majority of their equipment and Vahn ended up getting poked in the side by the strap on Ais's breastplate for the duration of the evening as he enjoyed a light sleep...
---
Near a gathering point on the 20th floor, where several trees bearing fruit could be found, there were a group of monsters that had human-like qualities to them. Though their appearances varied greatly, it could be seen that three of them were females, each gathering fruits, while the remaining member was male. While the others were picking fruits and gathering herbs, he stood guard atop a large boulder and scanned the surroundings with his steely blue eyes. It was difficult to tell at a glance, but this man was a member of the humanoid monsters known colloquially as the 'Xenos'. His task was to escort the weaker members of his race when they were gathering materials and right now his instincts were flaring up as if danger was approaching.
Though his 'rebirth' had only been a year ago, he was formed from the essence of a Silverback that had been slain by a powerful Adventurer in the past. As a result, he had the strength of a Level 3, and could even fight against weaker Level 4 Adventurers for a time. Unlike other 'monsters', he stood proudly with armor that looked like it had been forged in the style of the far east. Though he had humanoid features, the majority of his body was still covered in white fur and there was a silver ponytail coming out of the back of his helmet. Though he was a Xenos, he struck a somewhat heroic figure against the bright backdrop of the Dungeon as he brandished the large spear that was his namesake 'Silverspear'.
As for those in his charge, they were three female Xenos that were reborn from a Goblin, Bugbear, and a Hellhound respectively. Other than the Goblin girl, named Ecks, the other two looked more monster than human and were known as Beary and Nera respectively. Ecks was short-statured, with pale green skin, and looked closer to a human child than a monster. Other than her complexion and mangy brown hair, the only indicator that she was a monster were the two horns on her head. Beary had a human-like face, albeit somewhat larger than normal, but the rest of her body was covered in a layer of light brown fur from head to toe. She was the most mature looking girl in the group and actually had a thin figure only the thick mat of fur. As for Nera, she had a somewhat odd shaped body and, instead of a humanoid face, had a dog-like head with human-like eyes which created a somewhat eerie sight.
Other than Beary, they had nearly no combat potential present and Silverspear was charged with guaranteeing their protection. Their kind was often captured and killed by what the Xenos referred to as 'Hunters'. Silverspear didn't actually have anything against the races of the surface, but he hated the situation they were thrown into where they had become targets to be hunted and captured. Even though they had an agreement with a supposedly influential figure on the surface, they still faced endless persecution and several of his companions had been killed, captured, and even much worse.
Every time he had this current sense, Silverspear knew there was trouble approaching and, if he weren't strong enough, he would have to witness the tragedy of losing even more companions. Ever since he lost his mentor, Xad, Silverspear had resolved to never lose any other Xenos and had been training hard ever since. Though they were all born within the Dungeon, other Monsters hunted the Xenos just the same as they fought against the surface races. This meant he had to fight against Adventurers and monsters alike, so Silverspear had quickly been increasing his strength over the last year. His goal, other than protecting his people, was to one day defeat the Adventurer that had slain him in the past, not that he intended to kill the seemingly young woman. He just wanted to show her that he wasn't simply some monster that had barred her path for a brief moment, almost as though getting her acknowledgment would validate his reason for being...
Though he hadn't sensed the presence of the figure that appeared from the treeline, Silverspear brandished his weapon before jumping forward and landing in front of the masked figure wearing a black cloak. In a deep, resonating, voice, Silverspear shouted, "Leave this place or face my spear!" As he didn't actually hate the surface races, Silverspear didn't want to fight if he could simply scare away the enemy. The figure before him was relatively diminutive and he couldn't sense any aura from him at all. Assuming it was just some Supporter that had gotten lost from his group, Silverspear gave them the option of fleeing, all while keeping his guard up for any unexpected happenings.
Hearing Silverspear's voice resonate through the air, the three Xenos girls became alert and grabbed their baskets before fleeing towards the secret passage that would lead them to safety. Before they were able to get far, however, a red-haired woman bared their path and slammed a heavy cudgel into the ground as she said in a lazy tone, "If you try to run, I will eat you. Do me a favor and stay still like good children..." Though she could sense the woman before her was very dangerous, the Hellhound Xenos, Nera, opened her mouth to alert Silverspear that they had encountered an enemy. The moment she did so, Nera felt sickly sensation in her stomach as a profound sadness overwhelmed her mind as she fell into perpetual darkness for the second time...
The red-haired woman had stepped forward as a blur and used her heavy cudgel to smash the Xenos girl that had tried to alert the somewhat troublesome man that was being kept at bay by the masked figure. Before the other girls were able to cry out, she reached forward and sealed both of their throats with her grip. She easily lifted up Ecks's small body in her left hand before pressing down Beary's somewhat large body into the Dungeon floor. Cracks spread out, but she was durable enough to withstand the blow without succumbing. She tried to use her claws to counter, or at least free her throat so she could yell, but the only thing she got for her trouble was a crushed esophagus.
Releasing an annoyed sigh, the red-haired woman released Beary's neck and said in a cold tone, "All of you would have been fine if you had stayed silent. I wasn't going to kill any of you, so you brought this upon yourself...how annoying." As her words came to an end, the woman reached her hand into the chest of the still living Beary and ripped out the vibrant magic core that had been sustaining her. Beary released sad tears from her pale-red eyes as her body slowly broke down into particles of purple dust. Without any hesitation, the woman threw the magic core into her mouth and crushed it between her powerful jaws as she stared into the terrified eyes of the diminutive Ecks.
After swallowing the bits of magic core, the woman asked in a plain tone, "So, are you going to behave, or do I have to force you to be quiet like the others? This whole thing is a pain in the ass, so don't force me to have to do any extra work, okay?" Without waiting for the girl's response, the woman dropped her onto the ground and allowed her to finally take a breath of fresh air. As she kneeled down and dribbled drool on the Dungeon's floor, the red-haired woman picked up her cudgel before setting it against the top of the girls head and asking, "So, what will it be?"
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Ais's Dominance','Complacency kills...','Simply Tyrannical')
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