After two hours I finally had made them. In my hand I held three cubes, each with different colours, red, pink and blue. Wiping the sweet from my forehead with a cloth, I looked at the mess I had made and thought back to the disaster that had occurred for the last two hours.
The recipe called for vegetables of all kinds to be finely diced and compressed over and over, before putting them into the oven and letting it cook. This required extremely fine control over mana, since it heavily required me to use a spell to compress the ingredients. Interestingly the spell was recognised by the System, and it had a rather simple name, “Food Compression”. It also showed up under the Status for my subclass instead of in my usual list of magic and skills.
The spell required very precious control. A touch too much mana would cause the compression to fail, exploding the cube I was trying to compress. Alice had been scared the first few times at the explosion of food, but now completely ignored it. Too little mana and the compression would just fall apart. I had used nearly half of the vegetables but now I had gotten a lot better at controlling my mana.
As a result, the kitchen had food scraps stuck to the walls, ceiling and floor. My entire front side was covered in food scrap too, however I wasn’t bothered, in fact I was excited. From the start I had been embedding my mana into the ingredients, something the recipe didn’t mention to do, but a footnote written at the bottom said I should do it. I had guessed Grandma had written this.
The colours of the cubes actually determined the effect they would have. This was thanks to weaving my mana into the ingredients and balancing the energies before I cut any. The red one gives you extra strength, but it lowers your speed. The pink one made you more charming, or so the System said and the blue one gave you a calm mind.
Eager to see what else I could create, I grabbed the remaining ingredients and went to work once again.
***
After two more hours, I looked over what I had made and felt satisfied. I had failed a few times, but I had successfully created about thirty of these cubes and discovered two more colours, green and yellow. The green one provided more speed but reduced your strength, while the yellow one made you feel happier. Throwing down one of the yellow ones, I wanted to try the cubes out, the recipe said it would make you feel full for up to eight hours.
Making sure not to chew the cube, I swallowed it and after a few seconds I felt my stomach slowly fill. It provided the same amount of fullness you’d get from a regular meal and was healthy because of the ingredients. The recipe said you should absolutely never eat more than one every ten hours. Nodding with satisfaction, I stored the cubes into a pouch and put them away.
Hearing the chime of the door, I opened it and found Elise who was shaking her head.
“Good grief, I got caught up in some business, I’m sorry I didn’t meet up with you at Grandma’s.” Smiling a bit stiffly, I had forgotten to wait for her, caught up in the excitement from finding the stove and oven. Elise hands me a bag.
“Here you go, make sure to use it well. I’d offer to stay, but I have to rush back, one of my adventurers was nearly killed in a mission outside. Stay safe, Alisha.”
Running off with a wave, I smiled as I looked up at the sky. I had turned dark at some point, and feeling my body condition, I felt tired. I had used a lot of my mana, so while I hadn’t physically exhausted myself, my mana usage made me feel tired.
Heading back inside, I scoped up Alice from the bench and headed to the bath. Alice still hated when I bathed her, but at this point she no longer complained and just put up with it. Testing the magic circles of the bath, I filled it up and after washing myself and Alice of all scraps of food, I got dressed and headed to the second floor. It was a rather simple floor. As soon as you reached the top of the stairs there was a door on the left and right, and right in front of me.
Entering the room in front of me, I found a large room, a bed in the middle, a mirror on one side while there was a chest for clothing. A door led to another room, and opening it I found another bathroom. Raising an eyebrow, I wondered if the other rooms had their own bathrooms. Closing the door, I found another door and opening it showed an empty rectangle room. Remembering how Elise described bedrooms, I believe this one was called a closet, used for storage.
Closing the door to the room, I turned to the mirror, a desk and chair sat below it. Putting my bag on the desk, I took out the remaining healing potions I had, my gauntlets and adventurer clothing. These were the few items that were for combat or exploring the dungeon. I had about 13 healing potions, and putting them back I decided to leave the gauntlets out. I wanted to use these when we went in. I’d put the adventurer's clothing on tomorrow.
Jumping into the bed, which was over double the size of the one from the inn, I put Alice next to me while I looked up at the ceiling. It had been a rather long day, eventful and eye opening. Alex-no, Master’s words still rang through my ears, all of them contained a truth I had needed to hear.
Alice snuggled up to my arm and fell asleep. Breathing out, I closed my eyes as well, and fell asleep quickly…I was tired.
***
A loud ringing noise sounded in the room, waking me up. Rubbing my eyes, I look out the window and see the sun had just started rising. Hearing Alice complain with her cries, I reach out and pick her up. Listening to the ringing, it took a few minutes to recognise it as the chime…just a lot louder.
“Who the fuck is it.” Feeling rather angry, I slowly get out of bed and put on my dress. Exiting my bedroom, I nearly tumbled down the stairs as I had nearly forgotten they were there. Making my way down while stifling a yawn, I remove the wooden token from the grove and angrily open my door to see Aubrey.
Before she could speak, I spoke first. “Do you have to do it so fucking loudly?” Seeing her tremble for a moment, I shake my head. “Come in Aubrey.” Seemingly a bit shocked, Aubrey made her way in while keeping her head down. Leading her into the living room, I sat on a chair while yawning again and putting my head down on my arms after putting Alice down.
Aubrey hesitates for a moment and sits down near me. Opening and closing her mouth, she seemed unsure on what to say. Feeling a bit bad for being angry at her, I sit up and pat her head.
“Sorry Aubrey. Being awoken by a loud sound isn’t very pleasant.”
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Nodding her head, she turned to look at me. “S-sorry. I just didn’t expect you to be a-angry like that.”
Shrugging I sit back and look at her. As she tilted her head at my stare, realisation dawned on her face. “That’s right! Alisha, what did you get yourself into?!”
Standing while slamming a palm down on the table, she stared at me. “I was summoned to see the Branch Master and given a direct order! He said I must guide you to the twentieth floor and I can not assist you in any form! He even said that you’re not to be given any form of help by others in the dungeon! Alisha, what the hell happened?!”
Looking at her face, I saw she had her serious face on this morning. Rubbing my eyes sleepily, I reached over and stroked her hair again. It was rather smooth. At first she looked like she wanted to shake it off, but gave up and stood there waiting.
After a minute, I withdrew my hand and leaned back. “Well, you see, yesterday…”
Explaining everything about the ceremony, my meeting with Alexander and then buying this house, I told her everything. At some point she’d sat back down looking rather dizzy as she held her head.
“Y-you’re the disciple of that man?” Looking rather distraught, she sighed and looked at me. “You’re not completely recovered are you?” Shaking my head, she sighs again. “Fuck. What an impossible task, solo conquer the twentieth floor. Alice can only help you to an extent…sigh.”
Looking defeated, Aubrey sat down and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. Eventually she spoke, while still staring at the ceiling. “Well…what is done is done.” Looking down at me, she said “I don’t care about orders. The moment I determine you’re about to lose your life, I’m teleporting us out.”
“You can do that?” Nodding, Aubrey pulled a stone tablet out from her pocket the size of her hand.
“It’s an item found past the twentieth floor. It allows you to be teleported out but only works before the twentieth floor. They’re rare but to adventurers who find them they’re useless.”
Putting the tablet away, Aubrey sits up straight and closes her eyes. After a minute, she opened them again, her eyes a bit hazy as if she was looking into the distance.
“The twentieth floor…it takes on average a party of 5 or 6 at level 45 or higher to defeat the boss safely. No one has ever solo killed the boss, nor has anyone even reached that floor by themselves, no information exists for what it will require. The tenth floor boss…same size party but the average level is 30. No one has accomplished doing it solo so no information exists for it.”
Shaking her head, she looks at me with concern. “You should just give up. The danger is too high, we won’t even get past the tenth floor. If the Branch Master just wants you to level up, we can go out to a hunting zone outside of Vale, that would be easier.”
Seeing her concern, I shake my head and say “No, I can do this.” Giving her a look of confidence, Aubrey sighs.
“Fine. If anything happens to you, I’m going to kill the Branch Master.” A rare angry look appeared on her face before looking at me. “Go get ready, we need to head in now. It takes parties two or three days to trek down. I want to explain the dangers of the Tomb of Lilith before we head there.”
Nodding, I got up and left Alice with Aubrey. Heading back upstairs, I undressed and put on my adventuring clothing, the gauntlets and slung the bags over my shoulder. Looking in the mirror, I found it strange looking at myself. Long, smooth silver hair ran down to my shoulders and my blue eyes resembled Flannery’s, they had stars within them. Touching my cheek, my eyes had slight bags under them. The fox ears that sat upon my head were also silver in colour.
Letting my monster form come through slightly, I saw my pupils turn into slits, my teeth grew sharp and long. My arms grew slightly larger as my hands slowly changed to claws. Stopping myself before the transformation went any further, I looked over my face. So is this what people saw when I became more monster-like?
Letting go of my monster form, the changes reverted fairly quickly. I felt tempted to fully release my form, but if I did that I would release that sinister aura, which isn’t a problem usually, but with Aubrey waiting it’s best not to.
Making my way back down, I entered the living room again to see Aubrey giving Alice a monster core while patting her, a smile on Aubrey’s face. Smiling at this scene, I sat back down as Aubrey straightened up.
“Alright, listen up Alisha. Your life will depend on what you know. The first ten floors can be considered baby steps. Nothing of interest can happen, monsters are relatively simple compared to those found past the tenth floor. Remember the Mimic? That’s nothing compared to common monsters past the tenth floor.
“I will tell you about the monsters found on each floor once we reach them. However, I need to tell you some critical information. From the tenth floor onwards, the floors themselves can mutate, just like how monsters can. It’s not common, but also not rare. The mutations affect everything, and can be a huge boon or bane to us. It can be enriching because extremely valuable monsters come from mutated floors.
“Now, mutated floors happen randomly. It might be mutated before we enter, or it could mutate midway through. We have to adapt to the situation, mutations don’t have a duration either. The worst mutation that can happen is one that brings up the level of monsters. The highest level a mutated floor has done is twenty levels. If that happens, we need to leave as soon as possible and not return.”
Doing my best to remember everything, I asked Aubrey a question. “Can the boss room mutate?”
“Yes. It causes the boss itself to mutate into something either harmless or extremely dangerous. Again, this is random, and since the boss rooms can only be entered if no one else is in them, we won’t have anyone to help us…well, we can’t have anyone help us anyway.” Shrugging her shoulders, Aubrey let out another sigh.
Looking at me once again, Aubrey says “We can still just not go in, Alisha. This is a dangerous task, far too dangerous for you.”
Leaning forward, I tap her forehead. “Have some confidence in me, Aubrey. We’ll do this, even if I have to tear my way through to do it.”
“Alright, I get it, can’t change your mind. Listen, the next danger is humans. Not just humans, but elves and evolved monsters. Everyone has a price, and the loot other people claim is too much. We might also be hunted because we’re evolved monsters…well, I am, you’re a different case but they won’t know that. Slaves sell for a very high price, and the moment that collar is around your neck, it's game over, unless you kill the owner of the collar…who is usually some noble brat sitting safely in his home.”
Tapping the desk, Aubrey thought for a moment before shaking her head. “The last danger is getting lost, but that isn’t usually a problem unless a floor mutates. I know the way through every floor, it’s just a matter of having supplies if we do get lost. I received enough rations to last us a few days, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough.”
“Oh, I have Ration Cubes.” Tilting her head at my comment, I showed her the ration cubes and explained their effects based on the colours. Looking at them thoughtfully, she looked at me.
“Interesting, Chefs can do this? Well, do you mind if I have the blue ones and a few yellow ones? I believe if I can keep a calm mind it’ll assist in my decision making…and the yellow ones for when I get angry at the Branch Master later.” Handing her five blue cubes and three yellow ones, she thanks me as she puts them away and stands. Picking up her bag and strapping it on her back, she looked at me. “Let's head there now, the sooner the better. We’ll rush to the sixth floor and head to the seventh after I explain the dangers.”
Nodding, I get up and pick up Alice, putting her on my head. Pecking my head, I felt excitement from her. While I wasn’t sure what it was from, I figured she was excited to get to levelling again.
Exiting the house, we made our way to the dungeon while making some small talk. Looking at the rewards I had yet to claim, the Rapier and Wish Box of Needs, I figured I would claim them later.