Walking beside Yuki, we took the pathway leading down to the sixth floor, and just like the previous floors, minus the fifth one, we were first met with a fork in the dungeon with several different paths to take, though Yuki didn't think much about it and took the rightmost path, while I followed along. After a little bit of time had passed, the dungeon corridors were even larger than the previous flowers, causing me to raise an eye as my first thought was we'd be forced to face more enemies, though before I could ask Yuki, through the use of my [Heroes Gaze], I saw a gargoyle emerging from the wall to my left.
It was a good deal smaller than the one Yuki and I just fought and also much slower, so when it arrived within striking distance, I swiftly unholstered Trina and slashed at the monster's neck with such speed the gargoyle wasn't even given enough time to dodge; however, considering how the gargoyle we previously fought was still alive after being destroyed into tiny bits, it might not have been a death blow. Either way, it seems my assumption was wrong since after I decapitated the gargoyle, its entire body crumbled into small stones right before my feet, alerting Yuki, who quickly looked behind her with her shields.
"It's fine; I just took care of it; though it did surprise me, I wasn't expecting to start facing gargoyles." Remarked Alexander lightly as he looked at the stones at his feet before glancing at Yuki, unholstering Zartha, preparing for battle.
"Gargoyle? They're a rare find on the sixth floor, though they became increasingly more common the further we descend." Said Yuki with furrowed brows as she glanced at the dead monster before ignoring it and continuing forward while warily eyeing their surroundings.
"Speaking of that, is it normal for us not to have encountered any other adventurers? There is almost always a small line outside the dungeon entrance every time I see it, so I expected to come across a few people, yet it's been just you and I this entire time." Asked Alexander curiously as he glanced at Yuki while spotting a licker stalking them from above, only for him to launch a wind blade at it, yet to his surprise, it managed to leap out of the way.
'Eh, that's weird.' Mused Alexander as he attacked again with a wind blade by swinging one of his greatswords, yet the monster managed to dodge again.
Confused as to why this licker was dodging something it shouldn't have been able to, I inspected its status, only to stupidly hit my head as I launched a third [Wind Blade] at it, though, unlike the previous two times, I used more strength, causing it to try and dodge, but it wasn't fast enough.
'Haa, I'm stupid; we've just beaten a guardian; of course, the monsters would receive a jump in strength. If I had to guess, it's roughly 50% stronger than the lickers on the previous floors, still weaker than the gargoyle, but that's still a massive jump in strength.' Thought Alexander with furrowed brows as he eyed the monster's corpse, which had fallen to the ground, before catching back up with Yuki.
"I wouldn't say normal, but it's not uncommon to have an expedition into a dungeon and not encounter anyone; you've seen all the different pathways there are to take; like most dungeons, this place is like a labyrinthine, the only thing that's stopping people from getting lost is that this dungeon is linear. If it weren't for that, navigating this dungeon would be way hell of a lot harder and much more dangerous." Remarked Yuki seriously as she spotted a gargoyle lunge right at her, waiting for it to get close before powerfully swinging her shield at it, turning it into a pile of rocks instantly.
"That's good to know; my last dungeon was similar to this one, though it was significantly smaller, so there is that." Said Alexander with a nod as his ear twitched at the sound of shuffling feet and groaning around the tight corner.
Turning the corner with Yuki, we instantly came to a halt as we were met with a wall of zombies blocking the path forward; given our statures, Yuki and I could see over them, but that didn't help much since the horde of zombies seemed to continue for as far as the eye could see, not to mention numerous lickers were scaling the ceiling, along with even a few gargoyles lining the walls of the dungeons. To top it all off, there were a couple of massive zombies, and after a quick inspection of their status, I concluded they were elite monsters, which was the first time I'd seen any of them inside this dungeon.
"Ugh, a monster horde, what luck." Said Yuki with a grunt of annoyance as she eyed the hundreds, possibly thousands of enemies, granted the zombies made up about ninety-six percent of them.
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"Mind telling me what a Monster horde is, Yuki?" Asked Alexander with a raised eyebrow as he watched as the zombies, elite zombies, and lickers headed straight for them while the gargoyles waited until they were closer.
"A Monster horde is simply a large group of various monsters that wander the floors between each floor guardian until they're defeated; they're rare to encounter and are very dangerous. If a small group like ours were to encounter one, it's heavily recommended that they retreat and inform the Adventurer guild. However, this one is a small one, which most likely just formed, and it's filled with only a few elite-class monsters; considering how we dealt with that floor guardian without sustaining a single injury, I think we can deal with this." Declared Yuki solemnly, slightly lowering her stance while flexing her muscles, causing them to push against her armor as she held her shields before her.
"Sounds good to me; I was still holding back when I fought against that guardian; I didn't use any of my really strong skills." Remarked Alexander with a faint smirk as he injected mana into his greatswords, causing them to grow double in size, turning them into weapons befitting of a giant.
Since it looked like it might be a tough fight, I used [Mana Enhancement] on my armor, which isn't something I usually do, mainly because I haven't fought against anything that's forced me to use it yet, but now it seems like a pretty good time given the large number of enemies; following that, I infused mana into the rest of my body, significantly strengthening it as I glanced at Yuki, waiting for her to start the charge, which she did after a loud yell. Seeing her charge directly into the horde of monsters, I followed right behind her and slashed at her sides, killing several monsters with each swing of my greatswords.
Passing by an elite zombie, I already knew of its powerful strength, so I used a good deal of my strength to slice right through its tough body, which was probably on par with the floor guardian; slicing its leg off, it fell to the ground while attacking me, prompting me to leap into the air while positioning Trina above me to block the attacks coming from the lickers. In the air, I swung Zartha down at the zombie's neck, killing it as its large body lifelessly fell to the ground.
"Eh, wait up, Yuki!" Yelled Alexander as he saw Yuki charging through the horde, leaving behind mangled bodies while he chased after her, killing everything that got in his way.
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While Alexander and Yuki were engaging in battle with a monster horde, their neighbor, Michelle, and her daughter, Chloe, had just arrived at a park within Hyphen, where their friends were waiting for them.
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"Alright, go off and play, dear, though be careful." Said Michelle lightly as she gently pushed Chloe, who nodded before running towards a group of children playing by the swings.
Glancing at my daughter, I softly smiled, seeing her happy, before approaching the other mothers sitting at the bench, though when I arrived, I heard them talking about something that piqued my interest.
"Oh, you should've seen him; he was so handsome and young, though most importantly, his member down there, even through clothes. Jacky and I saw it while he ran through the streets." Stated an older woman with a slightly perverted expression and a face of yearning as she glanced at the few other women.
"The best part was, it was definitely not erect; I can't imagine how massive it must be when standing proud. Oh, hey Michelle, you've arrived just in time. We're talking about this young hunk Susan and I saw yesterday evening." Said Jacky, the woman sitting beside Susan, as she looked at the rest of the women, who all widened their eyes before glancing at Michelle sitting opposite her.
"Oh my, a hunk? He's probably not as good as the man I found, but what did he look like?" Asked Michelle with a faint smile as she and everyone else slightly leaned closer while looking at Susan with interest.
"Jacky and I only got a brief look at him, but he was tall with darker skin, had shoulder-length white hair, broad shoulders, a muscular stature, and his manhood; never seen a human with such a big thing, it's easily bigger than my husbands." Declared Susan with a smirk, her words causing the other woman to droll at their imagination while Michelle couldn't help but frown.
"Did you happen to see the color of his eyes?" Asked Michelle as she leaned back and opened her purse while Jacky responded.
"Yeah, they were a mesmerizing purple; oh, I would love to see those eyes every day I woke up after I received a good pounding from him."
"Heh, aren't you a married woman, Jacky? You're such a slut."
"What? It's not my fault my husband can no longer get it up; I'm still trying to see some action, and cheating a few times isn't enough to satisfy me. I want a young, strong man to turn me into his bitch." Said Jacky defensively as she raised her hands into the air before lightly blushing with a perverted expression, causing the other woman to roll their eyes.
"Anyways, you said you've found a hunk, Michelle. Do you mind telling us?" Added Jacky curiously as she and everyone else looked at Michelle.
Rummaging through my purse, I looked through all the pictures I had of Alexander, as I had intended to show these to my friends, but ever since he met Chloe, I've been on the fence about the whole thing.
"Huh? Oh, I was merely exaggerating; I didn't expect you to find such a handsome young man. The person I found can't even compare; you know, I like my men with a darker skin tone." Remarked Michelle with a fake expression, closing her purse and leaving the pictures of Alexander as she brushed aside her brown hair, revealing her pointy elven ears.