We spent weeks on that floor. There seems to be no correlation to the size of floors whatsoever. Some floors take a few days, while others are much longer.

We would occasionally run into those turtle monsters and promptly avoid them. The turtle monsters would attempt to squish us a single time, then seemingly give up and continue doing whatever it is they are trying to do.

Once we cleared that floor, Sylvia and I made our way through another two floors. Unfortunately, both of them took a considerable amount of time to complete.

The first floor was another gray cave floor with monsters similar to the geckos. The alligator-like monsters sacrificed speed and range prowess for overwhelming strength. However, that meant killing them was even easier since they lacked the speed to dodge any of my spells. Sylvia could make short work of them as well with some Blood Sorcery from range. This floor we cleared in a matter of days.

The most recent floor we cleared took the most amount of time. It was a veritable jungle, but instead of regular trees, it was those dead, blackened trees from the turtle floor. It made for an unpleasant month and a half of traversing that floor, as the exit wasn’t directly on the opposite side of the entrance. We had to go from one side to the other in order to find the exit to the next floor. The annoying monsters that inhabited that floor didn’t help much, either.

The monsters had the torso of a gorilla and the head of an odd-looking kangaroo. It was another example of the hideous abominations that sometimes appear. How can monsters that seem somewhat normal exist when you have those monstrosities? Guess there is no point in thinking about it.

It’s also to the point where I’m uncertain of how long we have been down here in the abyss. If I was going off my food supplies, it’s been months. Maybe even longer, considering I have started rationing as an Elf and not a Human.

Elves might not have to eat as much as Humans, but if we are constantly fighting, then we need to refuel more often regardless of our species. And Elves still need water… I have over six months’ worth of water left, and I'm rationing it as stingily as I possibly can. But if the current course continues and we don’t reach the end in a timely manner then I am going to have a serious problem on my hands.

“Voker, what are you doing?” Sylvia asked me with a small sigh.

Sylvia had her head resting in her hand as she observed me.

“I’m going to try and make this rock float,” I said simply.

“You are going to make that rock… float? Are you okay? I know that monster threw a rock at your head, but it barely grazed you,” she said with a slight grin.

“Completely fine. Unless you botched my healing on purpose,” I grunted back.

“You can be annoying sometimes, Voker.”

“Yes, I know. You’ve made sure to tell me at least twice a day the last few days.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve been really grumpy recently,” Sylvia huffed.

“I’m not grumpy.”

“Mmmm, maybe you're just more moody?” Sylvia teased.

“I’m not moody…”

“That’s what somebody who is moody would say,” Sylvia giggled. “Hey…what… wait, what?! You are doing it?! Wait! How are you doing that?!” Sylvia yelled excitedly.

“I told you I was trying to make the rock float...” I grumbled.

I had successfully manipulated the gravity of the rock to allow it to float. However, unlike most spells, this wasn’t a form a spell core and release kind of spell. I had to constantly maintain the spell, and changing something’s gravity was way more complicated than keeping a ball of magic fire suspended in the air. Which made me wonder…

“What are you doing? Don’t tell me— be careful!” Sylvia shouted.

“What are you, my mother?! I’m just testing something out, and it’s my mana, so I have control over it. Besides, the ceiling isn’t even that high. Just catch me if I fall,” I said while waving Sylvia away.

“Just catch you if you fall?! Do you understand how crazy you sound?!”

“Innovation comes with risk,” I said with a shrug. I took a few steps away from Sylvia and then fell over.

“Voker?!” she yelled.

I stood up quickly and looked around, looking for whatever it was that made me fall. The ground was okay, nothing was in the air, and no monsters were near us since we were at the entrance to a new floor. Those gorilla abominations pushed us all the way to the exit so instead of making camp on the upper portion of the stairs, we went down a floor.

“Voker, are you okay? Why did you just fall?”

“I… I don’t know… I just fell? Almost like my body couldn’t help it. I didn’t trip on anything either…” I squeaked in confusion.

Sylvia didn’t look convinced but she gave me some space. What just happened? I just fell, with no warning or feeling. Have I ever fallen on my own like this before? I don’t think I’ve been this uncoordinated since I was an infant learning to walk again.

I stood up, stretched my arms over my shoulders, and let out a yawn. I’ve been feeling pretty tired recently despite getting enough sleep, so maybe that’s it?

I know I’m not sick, or Sylvia would have said something. Well, whatever…

“Okay, here goes nothing.”

Draining my mana like this probably isn’t going to help me much but being able to use gravity magic would be a huge boon. If I could alter the gravity of a rock, does that mean I can also change my gravity?

I focused on the mana swirling around my chest and willed it around my body. Using gravity magic was more like using mana enhancement but putting it into a spell core. There was also no guide for me so I was just filling in the gaps with what I knew about gravity from my previous life, which was probably more than some stupid turtle monster understood. I hope.

With some time and concentration, I felt my body get lighter and lighter as the spell core worked its magic. Then my stomach lurched and my vision flipped.

Before I knew it I was tumbling the opposite way towards the ceiling. I started panicking and tried righting myself again, but before I could control myself, I slammed into the ceiling. It felt like I had fallen towards the floor, but my new floor was the ceiling. I could feel waves upon waves of mana leaving my body as it fed the spell core. It made me feel like vomiting. Then gravity righted itself, and I started falling back down to earth.

I thought having experience in zero gravity would better prepare me for this. But, then again… magic is dangerous.

“Voker! I told you!” Sylvia shouted from below me.

I was snatched out of the air and Sylvia was holding me in her arms as she glared at me.

“I believe you are supposed to say thank you?” she quipped.

She will never allow me to try this if I ask her beforehand. I might feel like absolute crap but this is all part of training, so it’s okay. I won’t maintain this spell core so it should be fine. She definitely won’t be that mad…

I placed my finger on her forehead and formed a spell core. I fed mana to the core and waited for either Sylvia to freak out or for her to start floating. Instead, the vampire just narrowed her crimson eyes at me and dropped me on the ground with a click of her tongue.

“Thanks…” I grumbled.

I rubbed my back but dragged myself up off the cold ground and into a stone chair. I guess I can’t be too mad with her, even though she didn’t need to drop me. But I learned a valuable lesson.

Gravity magic is by far the most mana-intensive school of magic I can cast. Changing the gravity of the rock took quite a bit, but changing mine took almost half my entire mana pool, and it only lasted a few seconds. And it seems I can’t affect the gravity of other living things.

Is it because I’m still unfamiliar with the magic or because I don’t have enough mana in general? Maybe I should use my sword for a conduit more often. Sigh. Training this new school is going to be difficult…

“What was that just now? And why did you touch me on my head…” Sylvia groaned.

She was glaring at me but I’d prefer this from Sylvia than her being down on herself or lost in her thoughts.

“Gravity magic. Same stuff those turtle monsters were using. Haven’t had time to test it since the last few floors have been so taxing,” I said.

“You can cast another school of magic? Does that mean you can use four schools and combine them?”

“Appears so.”

“So you… you tried to cast a spell on me, didn’t you?” Sylvia said while pointing a slim finger at me.

“If I asked you beforehand, would you have let me?” I asked.

“No? Of course not!” Sylvia yelled. “Hey! Don’t just nod your head at me!”

I stand corrected.

Sylvia sighed and rubbed her face. “What’s next? Don’t tell me you are some kind of prodigy with the sword as well…” she groaned.

“With a sword? No, I’m probably pretty mediocre with a sword since I have no real training.”

Sylvia just looked up at me with empty eyes. “But…” she said while rolling her hands for me to continue.

“I’m pretty good with a spear. Not too bad with the bow either, but it’s been a few years. I am far more comfortable with my hands, though,” I said simply.

“You… you can fight? Like without magic?” Sylvia asked.

“Of course. Despite becoming more familiar with magic, I’d say my frontline capabilities are still better. I was thinking of swapping with you in the front sometimes so I can get back into things. My leg is nearly back to normal now. It just needs to be strengthened a little more.”

“Yeah… sure…okay,” Sylvia said quietly.

Sylvia walked over to her sleeping bag slowly and crawled into it.

“Hey, wait, can you maybe heal me? So that I don’t feel like vomiting?” I asked nicely.

“No.”

Okay…

—

Slice.

Swoosh.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to move around like this. I stepped around on sturdy legs as I sliced apart the incoming Drones with my cobalt gladius. The blue and gold blade was razor-sharp and made short work of these insects. It felt euphoric in a way, being able to move like this again, putting mana into my legs and going at speeds that shouldn’t be possible—and doing all this while not being in agonizing pain.

These insects were the same kind of monster I fought months ago when I first escaped from Sandervile. But unlike in that forest, there was an entire swarm of these abominations. Not to mention something seemed different about these compared to the Drones on the surface.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Sylvia just finished off two Drones by exploding one into a fountain of black spikes and stabbing the other through the torso with her sword.

“Does your magic take on the color of whatever color your target's blood is?” I asked while wiping the black blood off of my blade.’

“Mhm. I can change the color back to red but it costs more of my own blood so I don’t even bother,” Sylvia answered while cleaning her blade off as well.

“It’s a shame you can’t drink blood from your blade. That would be a neat trick.”

“No, that would be disgusting, Voker.”

“Would it?”

“Yes…” Sylvia said while crossing her arms and kicking one of the giant bugs over and making a disgusted face. “These things are hideous. And what’s with this purple slime goop all over them? Have you seen this before?”

I stood next to Sylvia and poked around the monster's corpse. It seemed to be covered with some kind of slimy substance that I couldn’t quite make out.

The slime seemed more solid when we were fighting these things, but now that the Drones were dead, it’s almost turned into a liquid.

“Not sure. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Maybe it’s some kind of parasite or illness?” I suggested.

“Could be…” Sylvia mused. “Let’s just keep moving. I hear more in the distance.”

With that, we started at a brisk jog across the dungeon floor. The theme recently has been these gnarled, blackened trees, and this floor was much the same. But this was the first time so many of the trees had appeared. It was an entire forest of burnt trees with blue light crystals dangling from above them.

“Damn, those are Drone Knights coming towards us. Four of them and something else…” I murmured.

“The ones with the shields?”

“Yeah, but there is a big one following behind them. So get ready and if I yell at you, close your eyes and look away from the light.”

Sylvia gave me a serious look then nodded. We took our places, and I started by putting up stone walls in front of us. These Drones just charged into us with their lance-like stingers so it was beneficial for us to have as many walls in between us and them as possible. If they couldn’t go at maximum speed, they weren’t all that threatening.

But Drone Knights are a mutated form of these monsters, and they are a completely different beast. I had to use one of my flash grenades just to take out a single one last time. But this time I have both my hands and legs and a whole lot more magic at my disposal.

A Drone Knight cut away from the pack and made a beeline straight for us. The monster must have some way to find me since it completely ignored the existence of my stone walls. The insect barreled towards me, chitin shield raised and stinger poised to take my life.

With a crack and boom, a Lightning Bolt left my outstretched hand and traveled toward the incoming monster. My earthen walls gave way to a brilliant yellow light. The bolt found its mark and sent the monster rolling across the ground. The beast twitched on the floor from the shock, but it wasn’t dead. Maybe its shield has some magical resistance, or it could be this purple crud caking its body. A second one was on its way, and Sylvia was locked in a fight with the other two, so I incinerated the insect with a quick few fireballs.

Another Lightning Bolt was already on its way toward the monster as it barreled toward me. However, this time, my bolt missed as the insect rolled out of the way mid-flight. I tried Earth Spears from the ground in an attempt to impale it, but the monster dodged most of them and crushed through the others.

With sword raised, I blocked the monster’s stinger as it pushed me back. Our stalemate didn’t last long as the creature tried to take a bite out of my head over its shield. I stepped away and focused mana into my body to try and slice the insect's head off, but my blade only connected with the rigid carapace shield of the Drone Knight. The recoil from the impact rolled across my arms and numbed them. Guess I’m not strong enough to cut through this thing with pure strength.

Taking advantage of my failed attempt, the monster did something unusual. Instead of speeding off for another charge, the Drone Knight continued to press the attack. Its stinger jabbed at me repeatedly and I struggled to keep up with blocking the thing. Even with mana enhancement, I’m still out of shape when it comes to a physical battle like this.

It was then a fleeting memory of my father passed through my head. During our last big sparring session, he used swords instead of his usual practice spear, and he wreathed his practice blades in elemental magic. Can I do that?

Earth wouldn’t make sense, so I tried fire first since it was my most familiar school of magic. As I blocked another stinger jab, a flame erupted from my sword as my spell core finished. The orange fire burned hot around my gold and blue blade as I made another attempt at breaking through the monster’s shield.

My sword sliced into the shield but only barely. The gash sent the monster hovering backward in surprise. Now it was my turn to press the attack. The flame fizzled out and another spell core took its place as yellow lightning danced around my gladius.

I stepped forward with a burst of speed and closed the distance on the retreating monster while swinging wide. The insect extended its stinger in a futile attempt to stop me. My lightning-enhanced blade sliced right through the monster’s appendage.

I was attempting another follow-up swing but was surprised by the monster charging me instead. The monster bashed me in the chest with its shield and sent me sprawling across the ground. Even without flying at full speed, these things are still ridiculously strong.

So fire alone didn’t work, and lightning helped me cut off the stinger. I was going to need something a bit stronger if I was going to crack that shield. Earth Spears formed around my sword and peppered the monster giving me some more time to think. Another thought came to my mind, and I launched a Fireball to cover my approach.

Why not combine them? World’s first plasma-based weapon that sounds like a good idea.

A whiteish blue flame erupted from my sword and coated the edges. It looked like glass had been melted and reformed around the edges of my sword. Tiny bolts of blue and white electricity sprang to life all across the glass-like structure of my spell. The air appeared to warp around my blade as the sweltering heat rolled off in waves.

I was using far less mana to cast this sword enhancement spell than my Plasma Round, but it was still significant considering I had to maintain the spell core as well. The overall power was also leagues below it, but this was manageable. My new Plasma Sword was ready, and it was about to get its first field test as I swung down at the giant insect in front of me.

The Drone Knight tried to maneuver out of the way, but it was too late. I didn’t even feel much resistance as my blade bisected the monster, shield and all. The corpse fell to the ground with a thump as disgusting black blood pooled from the two halves. By habit, I moved to clean my sword but found it utterly void of any grime—a nice little bonus.

I could hear that Sylvia was no longer fighting, so I turned to find her, but I found the vampire just glaring at me with arms crossed.

“Mediocre, huh?” she huffed.

“Wasn’t all that…” I mumbled.

Sylvia rolled her crimson eyes then gazed out into the distance. “Why isn’t that thing coming for us? And why does it sound bigger than these knights?”

“Good question. The last Drone Knight changed up its tactics on me, so maybe this is some kind of a leader mutation? The monster book I read said there were scouts. But something that big shouldn’t be a scout. Might be a royal guard or even a queen.”

Whatever was out there was a Drone monster. The high-speed movement of its wings could be heard despite not having a visual of the thing. It was also flying around, not staying in one place. But from the sound alone, its movement seems more… erratic.

“Do you think we can avoid it?” Sylvia asked.

“Doubtful since it’s in our way.”

Sylvia scrunched her face in disgust. “These things are horrible. Can’t you just burn them all away?”

“That’s what I’m trying to do…”

“Try harder then,” Sylvia said with a small smile.

Wow. I never thought of that one.

“Ah, and here comes your chance, Voker.”

I rubbed my forehead and sighed. “Can you just hurry up and stab this thing and make it explode? Shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

“If it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?”

“Because I can’t make blood explode…” I said in exasperation.

“Just figure it out,” Sylvia said while tilting her head to the side and putting a finger to her chin.

Just figure it out, huh? I didn’t know I was in the presence of a genius…

Sylvia strode away from me with her sword at the ready. Despite our banter, Sylvia knew when it was time to fight. The monster was in range of my spells so I started with a few Lightning Bolts. I figured if I could clip it, then maybe disabling it would be even easier. Lightning Bolt after Lightning Bolt left the tip of the sword as they roared across the dead forest.

I was expecting to hear the tell-tale signs of the monster redirecting itself but much to my surprise the only thing I heard was my Lightning Bolts hitting the target. Then followed by a blood-curdling screech.

“Since when did they yell?” Sylvia shouted.

“Don’t know. It might be a new mutation,” I answered back.

I summoned more stone walls to slow the creature’s charge. I thought I had more time but it seemed the monster was getting even faster. Opting for fewer walls, I formed spikes on sections of the earth in hopes of injuring the insect. But the beast accelerated through the dead trees and my stone walls all the same. The blue light crystals dangling from the trees were crushed. From this distance, it looked like a wall of blackness cutting through the gloomy blue light.

Whatever this thing was, it wasn't messing around. I only had a few more seconds, and I was nearly complete with forming the spell core for a White Fire Lance. The familiar white flame flickered to life as it closed in. It burst through my stone wall, and I jumped to the side. The flying creature was nothing more than a blur as I launched my spell at it.

I was already rolling up to my feet when the explosion rocked my body. The heat and kicked up debris from my spell blasted me, but I wasn’t in any danger. I was expecting a charred insect corpse, but I couldn’t stop the words from leaving my mouth.

“What the hell is that?”

I’ve seen hellish warzones with millions of corpses. Fought alien animals on distant worlds. But all of those made sense. They followed rules. This did not. There is no training manual for a monstrosity like this.

A black insect carapace covered in pulsing purple slime loomed over me. It looked like somebody had ripped off a bunch of Drone Knight shields and connected them to a single entity. The shields retracted, and a grotesque abomination poked its head out from the gap. It was the face of a deformed Drone but cranked up to eleven.

The monster looked less like an insect and, well, more like a monster. It had a split jaw with four sections that were lined with long black daggers for teeth. One of its bug eyes was covered entirely by the purple goop, and deep purple fissures ran across the monster’s black chitin-like skin leaking some kind of purple fluid that reeked of decay.

More of the shields retracted at the lower portion of the monster, revealing its engorged purple and black stinger. The stinger at the end was much larger than those of any Drones I’ve seen so far, and the pressure seemed to be building as purple and black ooze seeped out. Then it burst.

I moved my head out of the way without a second to spare. The stinger grazed my head and took a bit of my skin and hair with it. If I hadn’t dodged in time, that would have been my entire head going along with that stinger.

However, I wasn’t taking this lying down as another Lighting Bolt danced across my blade and fired off toward the monster’s exposed stinger. The creature was already moving its multiple groupings of shields to block the bolt before my spell core finished.

The lightning bolt crackled and crashed against the black shield, then fizzled out. Once again, the monster retracted the safeguards protecting its stinger, and it was already preparing to fire another one after regrowing it.

The monster twirled around and got sent flying backward as something crashed into it. Sylvia had practically thrown herself into the nightmare creature as she had grabbed ahold of it. She was furiously trying to stab her Estoc in between the shield plates.

Not wanting to let Sylvia’s attempt go to waste, I pushed mana into my legs and shot off towards the monster in an effort to get to its backside. Those shields didn’t protect the abomination's wings, and I intended to end its mobility with another Plasma Sword.

The blue plasma warped around my blade once more as I raised my sword above my head. The gladius wasn’t all that big, but this thing was practically a full-sized sword in my small hands. The insect twisted its body in the same abnormal fashion that monsters can manage, but it wasn’t enough to dodge out of the way.

My blade sank into a portion of the monster and cut away a swath of the black shields while also taking a bite out of the wings. Sylvia kicked off the monster’s chest sending the insect flying and rolling across the floor.

“Nice work,” I said honestly.

“Thanks, but it’s not over. These things can never be easy, can they?” Sylvia grumbled.

The insect let out another disgusting screech of anger. Finally, the dust settled and the massive monster was no longer flying but instead pulsing black and purple appendages had sprouted out from the monster’s back as it tried to clamber up.

“Absolutely disgusting,” Sylvia spat.

“Agreed.”

This might take the cake for the most abnormal and disgusting monster I’ve seen so far. A creature that genuinely embodies the idea of being a “monster.”

I looked over at Sylvia, and red veins bulged around her pale face and neck. The sign that she was about to use a lot of Blood Sorcery to enhance herself. Muscles in her leg tightened and pulsed with power as she shot off like a rocket. The insect tried firing a stinger at her, but Sylvia dodged it easily. The monster attempted stabbing Sylvia with its new legs, but it seemed shaky and uncertain using its new limbs.

Woosh.

Sylvia sliced through the monster’s leg and continued on to take a few more chunks out. Which was surprising, considering her sword was meant more for stabbing. I guess Blood Sorcery is just that strong.

She jumped away from the monster as it convulsed violently. Black blood seeped out from in between segments of the creature’s carapace as it let out a whimper of pain. But, unlike most monsters that get sliced by Sylvia’s blade, this monster was still trying to put up a fight. It walked forward on shakey black legs, but it only managed a few steps before toppling over in a trembling mess.

Sylvia sent her sword away into her ring and scowled at the monster. “Let’s get out of here, please. I’m going to vomit from the stench.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice.”

We usually would gather valuable supplies from this monster, but some things just aren’t worth the money. The two of us started walking away from the corpse when I flicked around on pure instinct. I felt it coming before I heard it. The sound of whip cracking echoed in my ears, and my vision was filled with a purple blur. Before I could even react—