"Sword?" Lyon started "Oh you mean the one you want me to make"

"Yes where can I find the materials I am going to get started immediately" Kami responded.

They could be acquired in a cave but the fastest way was a dungeon. Specifically an S class dungeon and not one that can be easily completed. The dungeon's with materials like these were considered SS class and only someone part of the CAG could do it.

The Continental Adventurers Guild. It was finally Kami's opportunity to get in.

Sitting in a nearby bar along with Kami were Lyon, Lynx and Liliana. Kami was considering forming a short term team to get him into the CAG and clear the dungeon however he was quickly shot down. Liliana was fine with her level in Jura's adventurer guild, Lynx wanted to train and Lyon only agreed to build the katana.

He considered any other options he had but they were minimal. He wanted to get Tama but she was working at the military and he had no clue where Pyria was.

"Fine, I'll do it myself" he sighed.

They all tried to talk him out of it. An SS class dungeon is the hardest there is. Even in the CAG no one has ever dared to clear one by themselves. It so happened that someone had overheard the conversation.

"SS class dungeon you say" the man laughed "I can get you in and out with what you need"

"Really" Kami said as he turned around to face the man.

The others gasped.

"The calamity... James" they shouted.

The whole bar started screaming and looked around for him.

"Now look what you did" he sighed "I don't care about the dungeon but if you think you're strong you will be useful to me. I'm a member of CAG I can get you into a dungeon. There are some strong people that I have to deal with and the more people that can help the better. You scratch my back I scratch yours"

Kami began to break down what he said.

"So, I help you with your problem and you help me with yours?" Kami asked.

"More like I solve yours and you help mine. My one has probably been postponed for a bit" James responded "You see I have 7 problems I need help with"

"7? So do I. One visited me recently, he was strong so I need to get stronger" Kami responded

"So how are you going to get him into a dungeon?" Lyon asked

"Simple. I start the quest, he supports" James responded.

"Isn't anyone attempting to clear SS quests in general illegal unless you are a member of the CAG?" Lynx asked.

"Yes. If you die well then it matters little but whoever the source was that gave you the location and such would get in trouble. In this case me. If you were to attempt to clear the dungeon and fail and they found out it comes back to me. If we both clear the dungeon but you die and I don't I'm in trouble" James said.

"Sounds like a but is coming" Lynx said sitting up in his seat.

"There is. But.... if we both clear the dungeon no casualties then there's a minor scolding but nothing big" James responded.

"Funny, seems I should go to the CAG and request another quest but this time a dungeon" Lynx sighed

"Wait.. does that mean" Lyon began

"Yes, I am a member. It's been a while since I was last there but I'm well known. They call me Lit fist Lynx" Lynx started "I don't remember anything about CAG though it has been a long while"

Their conversation with James continued a bit and everyone but Lyon was about to clear the dungeon. James already knew of an SS dungeon that was nearby. It was hidden under a village bordering the city.

Lyon went to his father's blacksmith whilst the rest packed and prepared food and water.

SS dungeons got their name from their difficulty to clear. An S class dungeon has a maximum of 150 floors whilst an SS dungeon has a minimum of 300. The 100th floor on an SS dungeon feels like the finishing floor of an S dungeon. Basically meaning if you can't clear an S class dungeon you wasn't even going to get a 1/3 of the way there.

C and B class adventurers in the CAG generally avoid these dungeons seeing it as an easy way to die. They could definitely get to the 100th floor but that is it. There is still no escape until they get out. Another problem was that they were too deep. The possible loot was immeasurable but unlike the other dungeons these can't be measured. As in the floors can't be guessed.

Many of the CAG's best adventurers had gone into dungeons and never returned. The time they were in was estimated and if they were still clearing the dungeon by the time they decided to estimate then there would be 1000 floors at least.

The estimation works of how many floors you can clear in a day. The unbreakable metal bars to a dungeon or labyrinth actually open if it isn't completed but after a few weeks the life sources that attempted it are dead.

This was all explained by James to the rest on their walk to the village. This made it clear not to take one on purely on a whim. All CAG members were country or continental calamities making the dungeons even more dangerous if even they were scared. Naturally this didn't apply to the stronger amongst the CAG the A and S adventurers but it made it clear this was dangerous.

Lynx was A ranked and James was S ranked so Liliana and Kami felt more relaxed. Liliana decided to go out of sheer opportunity and the possibility of equipment whilst Lynx went for training. He had been a CAG member for a long time but he climbed up the ranks 1 by 1 and never attempted a dungeon of this calibre so he thought there was a lot to learn and oh boy was he right.

After a while of travelling the group arrived at the village. Led by James they were brought to a cemetery. He walked around for a while blindly until he got to a grave with a few stones instead of a cross. He dug up the grave and opened the coffin. Within the coffin were stairs leading downwards.

"If we continue there is no going back, we may be trapped under here for months or maybe even years" James acknowledged.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The group were ready having also acknowledged this. They walked down into the coffin. After they all entered metal bars came down against the coffin horizontally. Above them someone sealed the grave and they heard dirt. The grave was being buried.

"Now even if we wanted to we can't get out the way we came" Kami sighed

The first floor was light. An army of skeletons. Liliana put her aura into her bow and shot where they were. The arrow hit the ground and the shock broke the bones of the skeletons. One floor cleared.

The group of four had an idea. They were going to cycle through who did what floor and when it got harder pair up until they had to fight together. This way they could clear it faster and use less energy, a smart plan.

They walked down into the next floor but skipped a few and ended up on the tenth floor. Lynx filled his fists with aura and burned the few werewolves that controlled the floor. They continued in this pattern until they capped at level 167.

On this level they were dealing with monsters that exceeded the capabilities of one person. However this only happened when James wasn't fighting. He equalled Lynx, Kami and Liliana so he continued to fight alone.

Kami wanted to challenge himself so he took on the floor by himself. He coated himself in lightning aura. Before him stood a few beastmen. He never did forgive or forget the one time he was sent floors down by one so his actions were partly due to revenge.

As his body glowed from the aura Asura glowed the same colour even though there was no aura inside her.

"Oh yeah. She matches me and my output" Kami mumbled.

The beastmen were unforgiving and waste no opportunities. Whilst he was thinking about Asura they had already began to move. They rushed towards Kami. He blocked the first one sending strong sparks into the beasts body. Kami quickly manoeuvred himself through each one touching them.

The shocks briefly immobilised their movements. They shook with their claws in the air in the direction of Kami. Kami pulled Asura out and slashed them all. He was careful, they were dangerous in a group so if he ruined their flow and attacked them individually they weren't dangerous.

Lightning was going to be his biggest asset.

The floor was cleared shortly after with his victory. Liliana tried the same thing with the next floor and realised that the same thing happened. She took out a dozen giants like bugs beneath her feet.

Even though it seemed Lynx was a fire only guy unless neccessary he did the same thing although the lightning was still only covering his fists.

The days passed in a similar manner for a few days. Until they reached the true start of the SS dungeon level 300.

So far the dungeon seemed like fodder. That was because they were that strong, they had a good flow going and got all the rest they needed but level 300 began the new ball game.

On the floor was a single monster. It was a golem. They were known to be hard and tough to deal with but when Lynx attacked it with lightning it continued to move like nothing happened. He increased the output but the result remained the same.

"I think this may be where we start pairing up" Lynx predicted.

He switched his aura to aether as Liliana stepped forward drawing back her bow.

"I'll support" she states

It was amazing to see but for once Lynx had his aura spread throughout his body. This made it clear how difficult controlling aether was.

The golem swung his fist at Lynx sending his feet into the ground. He cuaght the golems arm and shouted whilst he threw him over his shoulder. Whilst in the air Liliana shot multiple aura arrows at the golem. During her intense training she had managed to remover her aura from her body continuously something only the god of the aura pool was known to do. Not even Kami could replicate this.

The arrows of water were shot with extreme accuracy. They lodged themselves between the cracks of the golem's stone and exploded when the golem hit the ground releasing water down the golem.

Liliana planned on weathering the golem down but it had next to no effect. The golem had high resistance. When the golem touched the ground Lynx began punching hard with his aura until he was dashed off by the golem.

As the golem tried to stand up he kicked it's hand messing with its balance and it fell again. Lynx and Liliana began their attack relentlessly. After a while they began to see results. It was minimal but the chest of the golem was slighly withered.

The pair had indented the chest by a few centimetres.

"Aim for the middle of where his stone has been destroyed" Lynx ordered

Lynx tried something. He stepped back and began breathing heavily. Liliana released a load of arrows in the golem's chest as directed. Lynx tensed his arms and pulled them both back. He ran towards the golem and jumped at it. He performed a double punch on the golem. The punch withered the entirety of the golem's chest showing a glowing gold cube.

"Break that" James instructed.

Liliana violated the cube with continuous arrows. The golem crumbled and the floor was cleared.

"Two man cells for sure" Lynx gasped

However this still only applied to Lynx and Liliana who didn't have at least legendary weapons. Lynx could just about handle these monsters solo with pure skill and Liliana almost could but it was different for James and Kami.

James was exceptionally skilled and had a weapon that even on level 300 could almost slice through most monsters without the need of his fuwa. And Kami's god weapon Asura went through like butter.

The only problem was keeping up.

The next floor was James' job. It was the first encounter with such a beast. The air was warm and the ground was slightly melted. James immediately activated his fuwa.

Before him stood a red scaled dragon. The walls shined multiple colours from the materials scattered.

"Kami, on that wall is some of what you need" James noticed.

The dragon was sleeping but after those words it got up and stared at the intruders. The red scaled dragon was a boss monster.

Its claw latched onto the ground cracking it as it moved forwards. It swung its tail at James but he blocked it. James attacked with his longsword but the dragons claws stopped the attack. The attacks equalised.

"Seems you can take some damage" James laughed as his once gold sword turned black and yellow as he filled it with his fuwa.

The dragon sensed the danger and moved backwards slowly. James jumped at it. The dragon opened its mouth and released hot fire onto James.

James expected this to happen which was why he activated his fuwa. The fire did nothing to James as he soared through the air and sliced the dragon in half.

"Things are getting even harder" Liliana acknowledged

"What is that blackish yellowish aura?" Kami asked

"Fuwa. It's not aura. It's a mix of aether and nether. To get it you learn aura and magic but when you do unless you have a special device you can't use either" James responded

Kami recognised it so he needed to check. It was the same thing Asmodeus did when he interrupted his battle with Poldras. Even the strong Poldras that Kami couldn't defeat without using the true form of Asura was easily dealt with. Even though he didn't get to use Asura he would've won but Asmodeus came out of nowhere and burned Poldras like the fight didn't even scale.

If Kami tried to take on Asmodeus without fuwa, he knew he wouldn't even stand a chance. Kami remembered it well, Asmodeus wasn't even trying to kill him and he wasn't even fighting. That was just Asmodeus transformed.

Though it was slightly weaker, Kami could feel the same amount of overwhelming presence from James.

"Impressive" Kami responded "There's someone I need to take out that can do that. Can you teach me, I can tell it wouldn't be a battle without it"

"I don't think so. Not many people can actually do this. 1000 at most. Intense training is required and you need to buy something to repress your aura. Master your aura completely then learn magic and master that. Do it in steps don't rush and you will get there" James instructed Kami.

But Kami didn't have much time. He needed to get stronger.

After a few more floors Kami was in front of a red hairy beast. He knew he was dangerous. The group had gone down 500 floors in the space of a month. The red beast guarded the 567th floor.

Kami pulled out Asura and was prepared. His guard was up. His guard was up yet...

The beast went on all floors sprinting towards Kami. Kami was about to strike the monster but he felt the air split from the pressure of his sword. In front of him was nothing like his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"Wait a second" James said confused.

The monster kicked Kami against the wall from the side. Kami didn't see the blow it was in his blind spot. He looked in the direction of the monster but he saw nothing. He turned around and just saw the beast before it was gone again.

"He moves so fast" Kami gasped

"No" James shouted pulling out his longsword and running towards Kami "He's teleporting. I don't think he was the original guardian of this floor!"

Confused everyone looked at the way to the next floor. It was open. James ran towards Kami but he was too late. The beast appeared directly in front of Kami and put his hand on Kami's forehead. Kami disappeared.