章節 118: Making Headway
With his smile instantly turning oddly deadpan and rigid, a single word escaped Isaac's lips in response.
"No."
Of course, he could have spent a lengthy amount of time to explain the exact reasons for this reply, to fully convince the admittedly quite charming-looking Harpy to back off, but he just couldn't be bothered, especially at the moment. Hundreds of Xenos were already swarming him, some a lot more cautiously than others, intent on sizing him up and getting to know him. He really didn't have any time to waste on Fear.
Usually, the Xenos would avoid strangers like a plague, but that wasn't because they actually weren't interested in interacting with them - quite the opposite. Many of them were social butterflies that, due to their unfortunate circumstances, only rarely got to spread their wings. Now that they had already classified him as an ally, mostly due to the endorsement from their respected leaders, the vast majority of them didn't stand on ceremony any longer. They felt like a never-ending tide, fully consisting of monster species originating from up to the 51st floor. Due to the near endless expanses that the floors turned into by that point, it was quite likely that other Xenos from beyond there simply had never made it here, or had congregated elsewhere instead.
Most of the Xenos were rather unassuming and didn't stick out in any particular way. While Isaac did commit their names to memory, he usually archived all information anyway - they weren't special. Only a few of the stronger individuals managed to make an impression… as well as some of the rarer and weirder ones.
One of the leaders left over from the previous generation was a massive Green Dragon going by the name of Gryuu. This was only the second one of this species that Isaac had encountered in the dungeon, so he took special note of him, as well as the fact that he seemingly wasn't connected to any treasure tree. Maybe, this was the reason for his slowly deteriorating body. Usually, dragons wouldn't be encumbered by the influence of old age, but rather be empowered by it - this individual, however, was the opposite.
There was a single Mermaid here in the hidden village, at most times confined to the pool of water located in the center of the cavern. Her name was Marie and Isaac quickly realized that she was an innocent and pure little thing. She had a childlike sense of wonder, and - contrary to that darn Harpy - had no unseemly intentions whatsoever. Even if he didn't have a Mermaid stowed away in his inventory that he could research and extract blood from at any time, he still wouldn't be able to convince himself to harm this one. Well, unless she was the only Mermaid in existence, then… hmm, the option was at least on the table.
So far, there was only one single monster species that he hadn't encountered in the dungeon - the Unicorns. Here in the village, he finally saw his first one. It looked pretty much as anyone would expect, like a regal white horse with a single horn of the same colour growing out of its forehead. It - or rather, she - looked completely harmless and went by the name of Yuno.
Unicorns were a curious bunch, as they could apparently be found on any floor of the dungeon - they were just ridiculously rare. Even the Loki Familia had only ever encountered a single one of them in here. Finding one on the surface was even more rare, but apparently the High Elves were keeping a few of them. Usually, regular Unicorns only approached female virgins, but Yuno here didn't seem to be constrained by that admittedly bafflingly weird and creepy trait at all. While she didn't try to get excessively close to Isaac - thankfully - she behaved like a friendly, middle-aged lady that loved to endlessly make small talk about the weather, the neighbours' kids and other inconsequential things that nobody in their right mind actually cared about. It took quite a while for him to extract himself from the conversation, only to suffer through the other Xenos' ramblings immediately after.
Some adventurers might have shunned the more unpleasant or scary looking monsters, but he didn't give a damn about looks under regular circumstances. This absence of aversion even got him into the good graces of the more reticent and cynical Xenos - for example, the Arachne that Fear had talked with before his arrival, Ranye. Most people would at least be a little bit creeped out by her massive spider half, but Isaac didn't show any of the expected disgust on his face at all.
While, admittedly, he didn't find spiders aesthetically pleasing in any way, that didn't change the woman's personality at all, right? Because of this mentality, he didn't let superficial matters influence his conduct towards Ranye. It was plain to see that she had a deep distrust of the sentient races - which wasn't surprising at all - but she didn't treat him too badly. Most likely, this was because he was a deity, so he wasn't put into the same mental category.
Amongst the female Xenos, there was a certain annoying group - all of them behaved a little bit like Fear, which meant that they were very open about their sexual attraction towards him. This was likely due to them having very little opportunity to vent these base needs of theirs down here, and considering his outstanding looks, it was no wonder that they all swarmed to him like moths to a flame.
There were Laura the Lamia, a whole flock of Harpies and Sirens led by Fear, whose behaviour made Ray want to bury her head in the floor out of shame, the Champsuryas Zoi and Lati, an extraordinarily lovable two-tailed Afanc by the name of Maia---
Hold on, why was there a literal fox monster in the mix? The others, at the very least, were humanoid in nature, with some monster parts 'spicing' them up. This one, however, was just 100 percent monster! While a certain group of socially ostracized people in Isaac's old world would have loved such an opportunity with all their heart, it successfully managed to unsettle him. Although none of the others stood a chance with him at all, this one… yeah, that would just be absolutely cursed!
Thankfully, after he had made it abundantly clear that he wasn't interested in any of them, and that he was already taken - yes, he had to explain his detailed reasons in the end anyway, as there were too many thirsty Xenos to ignore them any longer - they respected his wishes. While he could still feel their hot stares from time to time, with some of them openly puffing out their chests or trying to visually seduce him in far more embarrassing and stimulating ways whenever he happened to look vaguely in their direction, at least they didn't surround him like a crowd of mad fangirls any longer. All in all, it was progress.
One important part of his deal with the Xenos was one that he got all of them to agree to during these introductions - and that was to not disclose that he was a god to anyone else. While most of them got confused by this request, they didn't mind it. Everyone had their secrets, and they wouldn't needlessly spill those of others. The only ones here who had an Occulus to communicate with Fels were the leaders, which all were more than trustworthy enough. They wouldn't spill the beans.
And even in the unlikely scenario that they did, the only one who would be made privy to this knowledge would be Ouranos, who may or may not already have been aware of it. In the latter case, nothing much would change, Isaac was reasonably certain of this. Also, sooner or later, he planned to reveal his ascension anyway, as hiding it honestly was a tad bit annoying.
In the process of meeting with all of the inhabitants of the hidden village, only a handful of which greeted Isaac with a smidgen of hostility, he got to take a closer look at the cavern as a whole. Even though it was called a village, it hardly resembled one. It didn't actually have many 'houses', but there were a few makeshift huts in a couple of places. Most of the Xenos either lived and slept on the bare ground, or on what looked to be mattresses made out of various plants gathered from the surrounding floors. There were a couple of storage areas, as well as that aforementioned pool of water that the Xenos who were reliant on a water source to stay in good health - like Marie - were occupying.
Inspecting that pool made Isaac convinced that this place had been deliberately arranged by the dungeon to house the Xenos - it was connected to a tunnel system that, according to the Xenos, led to many other water sources throughout the dungeon. The part of the tunnels that he could observe at the moment was shaped perfectly to ensure that this cavern wouldn't be flooded by the water sources located on higher floors. It really seemed like the appreciation that the Xenos had for their 'mother' wasn't entirely misplaced. As for exploring these tunnels in detail, that wasn't a pressing issue and, as so often, could wait until he found the time for it.
When it got close to 4 p.m., the time that he had scheduled to meet Fels at, he bade farewell to the Xenos for today. He would come to their hidden villages quite often in the future, so the temporary goodbye was accepted without a hitch, even by the most clingy of their kin.
"Milord, what should I do from now on?"
The one who was left the most conflicted was Ray. She didn't know whether she should be following him back, or if he had something else in mind for her.
With a glance at the many Xenos that were already getting back to their usual daily activities, Isaac showed a small smile.
"You don't want to leave your kin yet, right? So stay with them for now. If I need your help with something, or if my subordinates do, I will request your presence. But as I will be researching here for a while anyway, you can hold down the fort in the meantime."
Before the genuinely touched Siren could even start tearing up due to this unexpected joy, he continued to explain.
"Also, don't bother to go out of your way to inform me should your kin migrate to another hidden village. Becoming one of my people has made it possible for me to detect you, anytime and anywhere. So as long as you stay with them, I can find them easily."
With a glance at the system's clock, Isaac turned around and walked away, waving his hand casually in the process.
"Anyway, see you tomorrow."
Only after the Siren hurriedly shouted the words "Take care, milord!" did he teleport back into his cell, accompanied by a certain system notification.
[ Ray's Loyalty has increased by 10. ]
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On their descent, the Loki Familia's party noticed that the unnatural tropical area on the 59th floor was slowly being reclaimed by the Glacier Territory. Only a few trees were still partially visible, with most of the area covered beneath multiple meters of snow and ice. The purple Vesios and all other exotic monsters had already disappeared completely.
Everyone easily came to the most likely conclusion as to what had to have happened here - Revis' master had realized that something had gone horribly wrong, and had relocated the forces on this floor to some other place. This had been unavoidable, so it didn't come as a surprise, but it was still a noteworthy event.
Thanks to the in-depth information that they had gotten from Isaac, facing the monster species of the Glacier Territory wasn't that difficult. Additionally, they came with enough supplies and equipment to fully resist the cold, so the biggest obstacles were already dealt with. If one ignored the monsters' higher stats, then the absence of the ridiculous amounts of Valgang Dragon breath attacks made the 59th and 60th floors a bit of a cakewalk. The Amazoness twins would probably have subconsciously let their guard down a little if it wasn't for the stern reminders from Riveria to keep their eyes peeled and their weapons at the ready.
Compared to when Isaac had tackled these floors, the amount of monsters that they had to face was multiple times higher due to their increased party size. It wasn't nearly as bad as during expeditions - the numbers couldn't even hope to compare - but it made their progress considerably slow. That, combined with their careful, slow and steady approach to clearing floors, made them take close to three hours to advance a single floor. This couldn't even hope to match up to Isaac's speed, but it would have been unreasonable to expect that in the first place.
The White Dragons on the 61st floor were finally a big enough hassle for Ais, Finn, Gareth and Riveria to step in to support the others from time to time, and with their assistance, no truly dangerous situations came to pass. Still, it took them about five hours to finally make it to the 62nd floor, where Isaac had fought his most challenging battle to date.
"Are you sure that this is a good idea, Ais?"
Standing at the bottom of the staircase and gazing into the snowy distance, Finn turned around to look at the eager golden haired Sword Princess. They had already discussed this plan before, and while it sounded like madness at first, it would indeed save them a lot of time and present them with an invaluable opportunity…
In response, Ais nodded confidently.
"Yes. Luring out and beating a variant Monster Rex here would give all three of you the qualifications to rank up again. You have been held back by the rest of us for so long, so now it's time for you to advance again!"
When her words were over, Tione walked closer and put an arm around Ais' shoulder. She didn't look at her friend, however, but at the love of her life - her Captain - instead. Contrary to what would usually happen, she didn't swoon over him, but showed a serious expression.
"Captain, leave the small fries to us! Become stronger so I don't surpass you too quickly, okay?"
By the end of her words, her tone had turned more playful and a little bit dangerous. Her hungry eyes made her feel like a predator staring at her delicious prey, sending shivers down Finn's spine. He hurriedly glanced at his old friends, Gareth and Riveria.
"Ais will protect the others, while we will face the Monochrome Tiger. Or… should we call it the 'Black Tiger'? Anyway, it should be fine. We can always escape back here and let Ais teleport us away."
The rational Elf's analysis gave Finn a lot of confidence.
"Mwahaha! It's time for us old folks to go on an adventure again, isn't it? We've not had a dangerous fight in so long… I hope you two haven't grown rusty! What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
With a hearty laugh, Gareth simply led the way into the icy landscape ahead, not giving Finn any opportunity to back out of this or to rethink their plan.
A wry smile played across the Captain's lips as he acknowledged his comrade's words. While the three of them were the strongest, they hadn't been exposed to danger for many years now, and had barely grown at all. Due to focusing on raising the next generation and consolidating the power of their familia, they hadn't put themselves at risk and had therefore not earned the qualifications to rank up to Level 7. All the Monster Rexes before this one weren't strong enough in comparison to them to qualify them for a rank up if they defeated it in a group, or even alone. Even the regular Monochrome Tiger's stats wouldn't be enough - not that it would have respawned yet - but with those black variants in the mix… they now had another option, a shortcut to take.
When she saw Finn nod, Ais slit open the tip of one of her fingers, just deep enough for a few tens of drops of her golden Ichor to drip to the dungeon's floor, before the wound closed up again on its own.
Suddenly, they felt like they were in a subway tunnel during a devastating earthquake - the dungeon all around them trembled! They didn't have to wait more than a few moments before thousands upon thousands of black variants of the various monsters that they had faced up until this point appeared all around them, immediately setting their sights on the place where the dungeon had absorbed the blood of a deity, and therefore on their group.
"Stay safe and watch each other's backs!"
After these cautionary words from Riveria, the Executives hurried into the distance, leaving their three leaders behind. It quickly became quite difficult for Bete, Tiona and Tione to deal with these vastly stronger enemies, but thanks to the Sword Princess' timely support, they weren't in any danger and could pick off a few of the black variants every now and then. Ais herself was already strong enough to fight head-on with the Black Tiger, so obviously, she wasn't even remotely pressured. The only reason as to why she left this enemy to her mentors was that it would be far simpler for her to gain the rank up qualifications than it was for them. Also, she could just try to make the dungeon spit out another one later… right?
When the group of four rookie Level 6's had distanced themselves a few tens of kilometers from the staircase, an unprecedentedly loud roar, followed by a thunderous collision, could be heard from where they had come from.
'Finn, Gareth, Riveria… you can do it!'
Even though she was convinced that they would prevail in the end, Ais couldn't help but worry for them. They knew what they were about to face, even about the regular version's various attack patterns and its Magic, so they should practically have this fight in the bag. Still, she didn't want them to get hurt and cheered them on in her heart.
Very quickly, the outer edges of the anticipated blizzard rapidly grew closer to them, and only after running for another thirty kilometers, wading through black variant monsters on the way, had it reached its maximum size.
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All in all, the confrontation lasted for four hours.
By then, the black variants of the other monsters had long since stopped to spawn, leaving the group of Executives in complete safety. After what they had just gone through, the normal monsters of this thematic zone were barely any threat at all. In this short period of time, although they had been protected by Ais during crucial moments, they had mostly fended for themselves and been forced to grow if they didn't want to feel the pain of their skin and flesh being torn apart. Their stats hadn't increased yet because they hadn't gotten their Status updated, but their combat techniques and movements had been refined markedly!
In stark contrast, Finn, Gareth and Riveria hadn't had the luxury of leaning back to relax for even a single moment and had been run ragged. Their group's composition was great, with Gareth being the main tank, clashing head on with the tiger, and Finn being the physical damage dealer who harassed the enemy at every opportunity. Riveria both supported them with magical shields and attacks, having more of a versatile role. Due to the constant assault of the blizzard, she was forced to mainly focus on defense and buffing her allies, only rarely getting a chance to unleash her devastating attack Magics.
And this was where the problem lay - they couldn't deal enough damage! The Black Tiger, just like a certain Black Goliath that only Ais and Isaac knew about, differed from the Monochrome Tiger in one key aspect. It had mind-bogglingly effective regenerative powers. Oh, and its stats were vastly higher as well. All of them reached D-500 / 117,050…
Usually, Magic made it possible to one-shot opponents like this, effectively nullifying their regeneration altogether. This time, however, this wasn't an option, as the blizzard all around them would start to heavily maim them - or even tear them apart, in the squishy Riveria's case - should the Elven mage not keep up the various shields surrounding them at all times. Even then, her mind consumption was already terrifying. Only due to the most excellent Magic Potions did Riveria manage to last through this tortuous time.
Finn and Gareth were running on fumes as well, but the latter had it slightly better. As his attacks couldn't heavily damage their enemy anyway, he focused exclusively on defense and controlling the tiger's movements. The Captain was the one who had to use all of his Skills and Magics without abandon. In his extremely buffed state, he vastly surpassed the Black Tiger in all of its stats, but because it regenerated so quickly, he almost grew mad while stabbing and cutting away at it.
His spear wasn't very useful when cutting, but it had to suffice this time. The only real way to deal significant amounts of lasting damage was to cut off pieces of the tiger's towering body. But the darn monster was one and a half times as big as the one that Isaac had faced! The 119 cm tall Pallum… really just felt like a mote of dust.
Ultimately, this plan didn't work, so Finn charged his way straight into the body of the tiger, cutting a path directly to its magic stone and shattering it. There had been no other way - even when its heart and its brain had been destroyed beyond what any being should be able to recover from, it had been back on its feet in peak condition in a matter of seconds!
It was very dangerous to enter the tiger's body directly, as it could just charge into a mountain and the impact from that would directly be transferred to Finn as well. Also, in a last ditch effort, it could attack itself, giving him no way to dodge at all. Still, with Riveria's shields and his currently buffed Endurance, the Pallum was perfectly confident. Although he had originally intended to keep the magic stone in one piece, it just wasn't meant to be.
Heaving heavily and covered in tiger blood from head to toe, Finn stood upright next to the pile of magic stone shards and the piece of Black Tiger hide that had generously appeared as a Drop Item. Gareth plopped on the ground next to him and laid down limply, while Riveria fell to her knees with an ashen face, furrowing her brows and uncomfortably coughing. Her headache caused by the ridiculous consumption of her mind had grown so bad that if she hadn't been in the dungeon, she would have definitely allowed herself to faint. Additionally, due to her constant and rapid chanting, her throat had become sore and dry, even though she had gulped down so many potions.
The blizzard slowly ebbed off around them, so the shields that had protected them weren't needed anymore. With the death of the variant Monster Rex, the dungeon returned to a state of calm. For a while, the three didn't make any sounds, then they saw a group of four rapidly come closer.
'Good, we're safe now.'
Finally, Finn allowed himself to let go of his tightly clenched spear and showed a weak smile. With no energy left in his body, he fell over and landed on Gareth's body. His heart beat was strong and fast enough to drown out any other sounds, so he didn't even hear the displeased and pained grunt escaping his old friend's bloodied lips. The last thing on his mind was the happiness at having overcome a ridiculous foe, to finally have grown again.
創作者的想法 
Shiro_the_Hero
Shiro_the_Hero Huh, this didn't turn into a fully Xenos-focused chapter after all... oh well! It really was high time for those old farts to advance a little~
On a side note, Ais is just... broken.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, everyone! \o/
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Honestly, without Riveria's shields, even Gareth would have quickly been heavily injured by the blizzard. Thankfully, the mother hen was around to make this fight possible.
Also, imagining a mote of dust-sized Finn piercing through that massive tiger... suddenly makes me wary of the dust around me...
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Shameless self-promotion aside, I hope you have a wonderful, fantastic day!! o/
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