"A Necromancer Job is a truly strong ace in the hold to have. In a war against other civilizations or races, corpses will always litter the battlefields. If I can have one of our elves to become one, with enough mana it can instantly have the dead turn against the living, creating chaos and unrest in the midst of their troops."

[It has the same ability as the Vortex Lance?](Alexa)

[But without any limitations... If a high level Necromancer can be nurtured, it will be of great help to you, master!](Decarbia)

"Mhm! I agree... What about the remaining loot?"

I quickly scanned through and found out some interesting pieces.

"This..."

Cuirass of Vitality (Rare) - The armor a strong warrior left behind, after leaving his life as well...

Effect: +15 attribute points in Vitality; +5 attribute points in Strength; can block up to 5 attacks of monsters under the level of 20 or one attack if between levels 20-25

With a slight wave of my hand after using Identify on the item, I materialized the window startling slightly the two girls when seeing the description. It was omnious but understandable nonetheless, since it is the first item of this sort that we found. Even the Vortex Lance is inferior...

“Right, I forgot to tell you two about this because I had Mia make some... ‘inquiries’ about it, but apparently, all sort of equipment we find in the dungeon have different rankings. The rankings are Common, Uncommon, Rare, Ex. Rare, Unique, Ex. Unique, Epic, Legendary and Divine.”

[What is the difference between them?](D)

“Right... since you girls don’t have the Identify skill, you don’t have a way of knowing, but the ones we found so far are simple Common items with no extra benefits. Starting from Uncommon onwards, there’s the possibility of equipment providing attributes boost, having skills or special effects, etc.”

[Like the Vortex Spear?](Alexa)

“Yup. I didn’t check it again, but from what I can tell it should be an Uncommon weapon and while it doesn’t directly improve any attribute, it does have 2 ridiculous stats. I would’ve brought it along since it goes well with your water attribute magic, however the grinding team needs it more than we do to save their asses in case of emergency.”

[Mhm... Nevertheless, since there are so many grades, what would the difference be?](Alexa)

“No idea! Even Mia was not able to tell that much, but she recons that we will find out soon. There’s one more point which makes me look towards the future...”

[???]

“Blacksmiths! So far, since our weapons were created by amateurs, they aren’t even considered Common equipment. Now that we have people under the influence of 'Job correction' and all materials used in smelting contain mana, Mia deduced that it’s impossible not to create graded items. Going by simple logic, the higher the Job Level, Soul Tier of the Blacksmith and the better the items used the better-graded does the item becomes. So in the future, we might have Blacksmiths capable of creating divine equipment. That’s why I look forward to it.”

[If that’s the case and a simple meal can permanently increase the attribute points, I really want to see what a Legendary graded item can do...](Decarbia)

Seeing her gaze focused on the next floor, I chuckled and shook my head slightly. While the three of us might be overpowered in these lower levels, is quite impossible with our small numbers to go deeper and gain that sort of equipment for now. There is also a matter of compatibility. So far, there were already the sheep that didn’t even bother with physical damage and others which might be even immune to magical-type damage. If we encounter a situation where both types are present and their numbers reach in the same hundreds like they had so far, we would die with utmost certainty.

"I really need to get that party started... I already have most positions already decided upon as well. I just need to get them to work together and start some diving expeditions..."

The problem was the fact that every single one of them are important administration positions and taking them away even for a day, might slow or even paralyze the rate of the civilization's improvement. However, at the same time, without them diving deeper we do not really have a way to jump steps and gain other items that can improve our camp with little effort. Moreover, the gain of Culture Points will only go up, the lower the floor we clear...

[Master, do we go to the next floor?](D)

Seeing her excited and slightly expectant eyes, I sighed inwardly and wondered where does she get all that energy from. However, indeed, I need to at least take a look at the next floor and gather some information.

"We will take a look. Do keep in mind though that is highly possible that we will not be the match of whatever monsters we might face, therefore putting ourselves in serious danger. I want both of you to be prepared to flee the second I give the order, in the condition of it getting bad. Understood?"

[Mhm!](Alexa)

[Sure!](D)

"In that case, let's see what's on this fifth floor, shall we?"

Following the ends of the shattered rocky fields, grass began to sprout here and there, giving birth to lush vegetation in front of a flight of descending stairs. Seeing the entrance behind the green path, I took a deep breath and took the first step. The two girls at my side did the same while following closely.

This time however, even after ten minutes of continuous descent we still have not reached our destination. Somehow this made me frown and sent a foreboding chill down my spine.

When I prepared to give the order to retreat and go back up, a small light could be seen within the dark tunnel we were walking through.

"I really don't like this..." – I began thinking

"We should give up this time and return. For some reason, I feel that if we're going to continue down ahead the situation is going to become very dangerous..."

[Hmm? Then let's return Michael. There's no reason to go deeper even if it's for scouting purposes right now...](Alexa)

I was slightly taken aback by the decisiveness of this girl and stared at her wide-eyed. Wasn't she supposed to have the personality of a battle maniac, diving in the middle of danger and going crazy with battle-lust?

[I agree as well! I can feel a sense of danger from the end of this passage...](D)

"Shit! Those are all flags! I should've kept my mouth shut... Return! Now before it’s too late!"

[Mhm! Eh!? Michael, the stairs disappeared!](Alexa)

[Huh!?](D)

"Fuck! I should have known this was going to happen. Fucking useless game God and his stupid ideas! Just how much of a weeb can he be to create this sort of situation!? I swear I'm going to bash that uselessly handsome face of his the next time I see him!"

[...]

Probably in the eyes of the two, I randomly exploded to vent out and in truth, it did help me calm down just like in the past. I then looked at the situation objectively and started analyzing the facts.

"First of all we are talking about a dungeon which I didn't partake in creating, but it's probably a standard draft for each world, since I doubt that he would be hardworking enough to create tens of thousands of options. That means that, by taking the personality of the game God and the fact that this is the 5th floor..."

"...Boss room!"

My legs went limp and I had to lean on the wall to the left in order not to fall. Remembering the Boss of each floor and their personal strength when compared with the regular monsters, as well as the fact that this specific one should be above level 20 in strength, I suddenly felt like crying.

[What do you mean Michael?](Alexa)

[???](D)

"Haaaaah... Remember how each floor has its own boss?"

[[Mhm!]]

"Those can be called mini-Bosses. Each five floors from now on, there will be one true Boss with strength surpassing the other four previous levels. Simply put, even if the four floors were to fight head on against this Boss with their ridiculous numbers, they won't necessarily be able to win."

[That strong!?](D)

Seeing Decarbia's shocked expression, I couldn't help but helplessly nod. It was a matter of logic in every game I have played or every novel I managed to read. A Boss is supposed to be a test before a qualitative change in monsters present on a floor. Since the following levels are harsher, there was a system emplaced that would prevent weaker adventurers to seek useless death.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Trying to encourage myself, I took the lead after materializing a shield in front of me. The floating thing was also rotating in order to disperse the force of any sort of attack. Especially if the moment we step foot in the damned Boss room, should we suddenly get ambushed.

Within another thirty seconds, we managed to exit the tunnel and found ourselves in a really small room. There were walls of stone of barely reaching three meters in height, quite different when compared with the floors we've seen before, as well as a door in front of us which was as big as the walls themselves.

"Earth dungeon first, stone room now, stone walls and even a stone door... It follows the goddamn pattern so much that it is annoying. D, bring out the loot we gathered in batches. Only the wearable equipment though. We'll need to bundle up if we want to weather this storm ahead..."

Unfortunately, there were barely four extra pieces that could improve attributes, making me blush in shame at the stupid thing I declared so proudly before. Even so, I had the girls wear two layers of common clothes with one layer of uncommon type from the third level that we gained. That will make their movement stuffier, however it's safety before anything else.

"Let's go in then!"

With a slight push, the stone doors opened and with it, a foul stench reached my nostrils forcing me take a step back. If I am not mistaken, this smell should be from...

[Blood!](D)

"You think so too?"

[Mhm! Unfortunately, I am quite familiar with it...](D)

"Be on guard! Imaginarium activate! Dome of Protection! Pandemonium activate! Infuse wind attribute mana!"

Imaginarium realized!

Dome of Protection successfuly created!

Pandemonium activated!

Wind attribute mana has been infused in the Dome of Protection!

With the notification announcing it so, all preparations I could make were already done. All that was left, was to take down the Boss before we could extract ourselves from this unpleasant situation.

*ROOOOOOAR!*

As if the stench wasn't enough, following an earth shaking beastly roar, an even worse smelling wind flashed past us and slammed into the dome. Seeing the impregnable shield shake, the bad feeling further intensified.

"Fuck! How is it so strong? Only its roar infused with mana can cause damage to the dome? What sort of stupid notion is this?"

"Prepare to cast magic at a moment's notice. Alexa will use water to slow its movement speed and D will use her strongest magic to bash the ugly thing. If that fails, we will move depending on what info I get from its Status Page. Also..."

My speech which was supposed to calm down the two nervous girls came to an abrupt end, when a freaking house came flying at us. Nope, I was not seeing things. There was an actual house hurtling through the air in our direction, hell-bent on squashing us like bugs.

Leaving aside the modern look of it, I quickly inspected the terrain of this floor and saw how it was an actual city.

"What the fu..."

*HONG!*

With a loud, deafening sound, my Dome of Protection shuddered violently and cracked slightly. Scared shitless, I began infusing even more mana with the help of the Pandemonium ring, in an attempt to strengthen our means of staying alive.

Fortunately, once the wind barrier began forcibly rotating, the rubble created by the crashing house were grinded down into dust.

[Master, should I assist?](D)

"No! Save your mana for the fight with the Boss. That fucker is intelligent enough to attack from a distance, so he surely has to be quite the nuisance. Alexa, prepare to use Compound Magic that we talked about."

[Understood!](Alexa)

The only problem was that in front of absolute power, all tricks are rendered useless immediately. And almost as to prove this point, hundreds of houses and tens of sky-scrapers began flying in our direction. I felt my scalp go numb and I lost all sensation in my palms from clenching my fists too tight.

[Should I use the new Compound Magic Michael?](Alexa)

I almost spat out blood when I heard this little airhead saying that. What use would that even have!?

"No need! Imaginarium, Remodel dome of Protection! Pandemonium, replace wind attribute mana with earth attribute!"

With a thought, the round dome became a conic shape and then took the form of a sturdy pyramid, extending further and further, while the earth attributed mana was supposed to further strengthen its defenses.

"It's still not enough... Alexa use it! Decarbia as well, use your Firestorm and try to shift the direction of the incoming buildings!"

Using physics, instead of having the impact hit a large surface and make it crumble easily, by changing the shape of the dome and lowering the surface exposed, we have a higher chance of surviving. At the same time, if D's firestorm can displace the...

"Displace... D, what's the maximum distance you can activate that Hydrogen Blast at?"

[You want to use that!? Then again, the situation is quite desperate... 100 meters and even that is quite a stretch. I am not sure I would be able to exert the same type of destruction as last time.](D)

"That should be good enough. Use it dead in the middle and detonate it when the first skyscrapers reach that area. The blast should be sufficient to divert their direction to our surroundings, but not us. Alexa, use yours to blast at the houses that I point at immediately when I point at them. There's no room for error, you two! Any mishaps and we literally get buried here..."

[...]

I realized that blurting that last line was not exactly very helpful to the already low morale, however the situation was as such. While my Imaginarium and Pandemonium were overpowered, they weren't almighty. The amount of things I could create based on what I saw or can imagine is pretty limited due to the tech-tree restrictions.

I mean seriously now... If I could bring into existence a freaking flying battleship, I wouldn't be in this shitty situation right now, now would I?

Within a blink's worth of time, the flying buildings were already less than 200 meters away from us and when considering the time required for ignition and their speed...

"Decarbia, now! Ignite it!"

[Roger! Hydrogen Blast!](D)

Enduring the shame of the loudly yelled skill and knowing I was the one to name it (mostly because the names the three of the airheads picked were so shameful that I felt like I was going to die from the cringe), a bright light suddenly expanded outwards the moment it encountered the buildings. With a loud bang, both the hydrogen, oxygen and the mana in that area were ignited and exploded in a big fashion.

Due to the sudden air expansion, the direction of most of the skyscrapers and some of the houses changed or slowed quite a bit, but not even a second later at least fifty houses passed through the giant fireball and headed our way still.

"Alexa, hit the ones in the middle and ignore the ones on the sides."

[I am not very confident with my aim though... Here I go! Water Cutter!](Alexa)

As the cringe sounding skill name left her lips (which made me remember how in the demo I actually enjoyed saying the names aloud), ten water jets materialized from thin air and shot forward with unerring speed.

Water Cutter is a skill created based on a combination of water and air attributes with the use of Compound Magic, making use of water's malleability and the air that coils around it, giving it sharpness as well as piercing power.

In not even a second, they hit the houses that as result slowed down for a brief moment and then directly pierced through them and the ones behind. With the most immediate threat taken care of (quite easily), the remaining buildings began to plummet around this location, sending debris our way.

"Remodel Imaginarium! Dome of Protection shape! Pandemonium activate! Re-infuse wind attribute mana!"

Imaginarium realized!

Pandemonium activated successfully!

Selection of the Dome of Protection V.1 confirmed!

Surprised at the strange notification window, I pondered for a while and was quick to dismiss it for now. The reason?

Behind the hoses that fell last, there was a huge behemoth with a wingspan of at least 20 meters looking down on the three of us with golden eyes.

Name

Gargoyle

Name

Value

Name

Value

Job Name

Level

Progress

Race

Golem

STR

202

Magic

30

Gargoyle Boss

25

81%

Sex

N/A

DEX

158

Charm

60

Age

10 years

AGI

186

Luck

220

World

Midgard

END

230

HP

4630/4630 (+182.2/sec)

INT

85

MP

1862/1862(+95.2/sec)

WIS

96

Skill List Name Level Proficiency Physical damage reduction 8 ??? Magical damage reduction 6 ???