Chapter 12: The Seven

Edwin Elliot POV

“Well Edwin regardless I would like you to make contact with with this masked man. I do not care how many you have lost or how many it takes to gain an audience.....I wish to meet this person. There is no telling just how valuable an asset having this person joining our kingdom will be.”

“Yes sir. Though we have not heard back from certain members of our household, we assume they have killed.”

“Then check the whereabouts those men where suppose to be looking. We can eventually find this person but I do not have the same opinions as Aldain. I wish for you to gain an audience with this man and see if we can lure him to our side.....A few kingdoms by the coast of the central continent have already seen the viewing crystal with his images. He’s going to start having people lure them into their kingdoms households to strengthen themselves. I don’t want to miss this opportunity before any guilds or central kingdoms try to get to him first. ”

“And if the masked man simply refuses our offers and won’t join us?”

“Then kill him. That weapon he had showed to be something your family claims to be beyond anything I’ve seen in the central continent....then prove it to me.”

“You have seen the crystal images your grace?”

“Yeah I saw it....though I didn’t have anyone with the appraisal skill there with you when you saw it so I have to just take your word for it that it will be profitable for us.”

“Yes your grace....It will absolutely  not disappoint. We believe it to be one of the strongest weapons we’ve ever found on the eastern continent so far. In fact we compare it with with some of the higher grade legendary weapons.....if not higher.”

“Surely you can’t think it’s a”

“Phantasm Class....No it didn’t show the same color scheme during the appraisal, though we believe it could potentially be as strong as one of the 4 Hero weapons. We cannot be sure until we look at it but I believe it is a great find your grace!”

“Very well. If you think this is an item comparable to one of the 4 phantasm weapons then I am sending some of my own in as well.”

“Your grace?”

“What we have to handle this quickly before word of this spreads to anyone else. You said that entire colosseum he wrecked was filled with people didn’t you. Well then that’s a lot of mouths talking about this person and word spreads fast. Regardless if it’s across continents. We can’t be the only one’s looking for this man, so I’m sending in two specialists.”

“Two specialists? Sure we believe this person to be rather high level along with some dangerous class of magic.”

“Then we will simply beat him when he is at his weakest and offer him his opportunity then. These specialists are both over 150 and are world class assassins that have already slain 3 divinely blessed beings. They have a interesting way of getting things done. So they will be headed to your continent soon and I want your joint efforts in tracking this person. Find out what will make him turn to our side!”

“Yes your majesty...”

The crystal display turned off and the two way transmission that allowed one to speak to another from leagues away had ended. Truly just another remarkable invention in the central continent. Our family has always collected ancient artifacts and collected old text. That is why we offered to explore the eastern continent in exchange for finding strong individuals for the kingdom we hail from.

His majesty wants to get his hands on the masked man, I simply want to get my hands on that weapon. It is a magnificent device. The king just isn’t thinking grandly enough, though it’s not like he was ever a wise king. Just a brilliant tactician in warfare. He was once a general of one of the four strongest empires in the human nation. He’s been through many battles and has now made a kingdom of his own by the coast of the central continent.

That weapon.....If it is what I think it is then I feel like taking on this masked man will be much more difficult than I previously inquired. We can’t simply attack him, I’m sure that is what happened to Elijah. Though I don’t know he just went missing in the woods to east close to the Jheroki Mountains.

Sending in more clansman just to get slaughtered would only hurt our clan. We need to play this strategy out right. We need to find him and I need to find out what makes this masked man tic.

Vali POV

The large disk shaped platform continued its descent to floor one. Out of all of the inventions I’ve seen so far in this world, this system seems to be by far the most advanced. Even though we aren’t’t descending at a very fast pace, something like this that has been working for hundreds of years running between each floor like an elevator is fascinating. It must run on some kind of magical power. There is apparently another form of transportation between floors for the leaders of the races but I’m probably not allowed to use that.

Though I have much more pressing matters to think about currently. I need to find out more about the races that are trapped in this massive dungeon Balor has created. I need to somehow come up with a plan, as I am hoping I can benefit someway in helping them as well. This won’t be a free service I’m providing them, I can’t just throw my life around like that, though for the plans I have for the future I will need some aid soon in accomplishing them. These people hopefully can become those allies I need when the time comes.

I’ve been thinking about a lot of things since I spoke with Loki. Honestly it has given me a lot to mull over of what I need to do to provide a safe place for Kaylan and those close to me during my time here in this world. Since the kingdoms on this continent doesn’t treat demi humans well, or from what I’ve seen, it isn’t possible to live here with my mother. In my world if the treatments were so unfair I would simply try to travel to a different country. Though in this world, I don’t know of anywhere that I would consider safe for all of us. Why did Loki drop me here of all places?

‘......Though according to what I’ve acquired this continent is still fairly new settled territory and the kingdoms here are not as powerful as the ones established in the central continent. That Lucy girl said the King of Aldain happened to acquire rights to this land after defeating some local dungeon....Hmmm. Perhaps the humans of this world are doing a sort of land grab policy with newly settled lands? ‘

Back in my world when our countries were first being established it wasn’t uncommon for leaders to issue large pieces of  new land to individuals to help bring in new resources and expand territory.

If I somehow defeat a dungeon I might be able to acquire some land of my own. Since I am human this might be able to apply to me. Hopefully I can gain some good relations with the Asher kingdom through this Lucy character and be able to have a small land of my own. Essentially it would be like forming my own country.

To build a country all you need are land, citizens, and a government to run it. These demi humans are all high level from what I see. Having them as allies when things get bad would be beneficial to me, and if we can possibly beat this dungeon together we might be able to acquire some territory of our own. Though this is all based on assumption by what that little girl said.

‘Honestly I wouldn’t have even believed she was a royalty if she didn’t have that female knight with her...Hmm she was a rather alluring women now that I think about it. Her name was....Cassandra. She had long chestnut blonde hair and wore some slightly flashy armor. She seemed to be wound up rather tightly, though her level was low she did show to have talent with a sword....Hmm I wonder if I can get those black clothed people to teach me to fight with a sword. I still haven’t gotten to practice with this frost sword yet and I would like to get a sword mastery skill on it. I apparently now have a Scythe Skill Mastery on it now. After killing that smog dragon and dark fomorians my scythe mastery has gone up.

Scythe Mastery Beginner level 8

15% added attack power when using a scythe as a weapon

I guess this is due to doubling the experience of everything I attain in this dungeon for the next week. Mastery on weapons is usually much different than masteries of other skills. Like every skill the higher masteries take forever to increase. It takes a lot to level up a weapon skill, it is not just doing an action over and over again, but also takes into the account the intensity and way you use it as well. So if you were to use your skills properly and facing opponents far stronger than you can help the growth as well. Though this is only the earlier stages of mastery.

So far I’ve only received two skills though for the mastery. Slice is an active skill that increases the penetration of my scythe blade by 10% and another semi passive skill called Staff Strengthening that increases my weapons defense by 10%. I also now get an added buff of 15% added attack power when using a scythe.

Though I don’t really want to use the scythe honestly. It’s far too destructive to simply use it to fight someone and isn’t something I should just swing around for fun. That’s why I was hoping to learn another weapon skill such as sword mastery from those black robed demi humans from before. They all seemed to be quite skilled at using a blade. Hopefully I can somehow get them to teach me as well, maybe then I don’t have to lug Abgrund around so much and scare everyone...’....Though.....I guess it’s not like its bad to have a nuke in your back pocket should the need arise for it.’

Abgrund does give an added boost to my dark magic when equipped, and since I gained abysmal mist I may need to use it more in this dungeon. Cam said those giants can heal rapidly but apparently the only things that can halt that were their odd shining blades and my mist. Since I was so high up on that wall and the mist destroyed them before I hit the ground....I never did get to see just how powerful those beings were.

Gaining that 25% affinity to fire also gave me an added boost to my fire magic, though I never really got to see those effects as the only skill I had pertaining to fire was fireball. If I didn’t have magic manipulation I wouldn’t have been able to bend the fire around my body the way I can......Truly there are many ways to become strong in this world and I feel I haven’t even scratched the surface yet. That’s why I believe it will be beneficial to gain trustworthy allies. Even if I am stronger than the majority of the humans in this continent, this world is just too big to fight in alone. I can’t take villains here lightly either, hence the reason I had to have Fenrir eat all of those men from before. If I couldn’t trust them and they came back with people to hurt my mother or anyone else, I’d never forgive myself.

Hopefully I can also somehow gain ties with the royalties of the Asher kingdom, I told Lucy I wanted to meet with them in an undisclosed location in a few days to discuss what we spoke of before. I guess only time will tell to see where this goes....’...Man this has been a long time, but the feeling of the large disc shaped platform we are standing on continues to fall deeper into the the planets core.

“.....So....Is that bird as weird as your other pet?”

Cam not seeming to enjoy the quiet as much as me decided to try to make small talk. Lately I’ve felt like I have much more time to think to myself, this could be due to my cognitive functions expanding, though I guess for others my odd silence can seem strange.

“Ha....I don’t know if she is as weird as him, but she hits pretty hard. What’s wrong? Didn’t get along with Fenrir too well?”

“Ha...is that what you called it? That little thing creeped the hell outa me.”

“...Yah, haha, he is a rather interesting animal. This however is Hlökk.”

As I motioned towards the small purple crow sitting on my shoulder Cam acknowledged her and greeted her. Though she didn’t say anything back. She doesn’t reveal herself to just anyone and I honestly feel this might be for the best right now and has just been quietly observing everything on my shoulder. The less the know about us for the moment the better.

“Hm...Is that bird not a monster?.....I don’t see a level for it like everything else in this dungeon?”

What Cam said wasn’t incorrect. Hlökk doesn’t show to have a level and since a dungeon is a place were a person’s level is at all times shown, it could be considered odd that something that is alive in here doesn’t show such information. A dungeon is meant to be a place where you are at your most vulnerable so this has probably lead to Cam and the others in this dungeon to be quite mindful of their surroundings.

“Yah....she is a bit complicated too.”

“.......”

As Cam stood there, he stared back and forth between me and Hlökk if trying to determine something but eventually just shrugs his shoulders as if deciding it wasn’t important.

“So...What other races are trapped here in this dungeon Cam?”

“There are currently 7 races remaining. The Reiki’s, Eis Neko’s, Annunake’s, Adlers, Arachnee, Pixie, and Jiji race. Though the only combat efficient races to continue the fight with Fomorians are we the Reiki race and the Eis Neko race.”

“To continue the fight?.....What do you mean?”

“......We have suffered great loss here. Many of the races have given up the fight to conquer the dungeon and have determined the fight hopeless. A large number of what is left of our population is apparently fine with just remaining here for the bitter remainder of their lives. It’s funny to think only several years ago we felt like we were truly going to conquer the dungeon in our own lifetime. We celebrated in having the strongest generation in the history of each of our clans........”

After Cam said this he just turned his head and bit his lip. I guess the thoughts of better times can always make a person cringe when seeing how bad it can turn into. I know all to well of this fact.

“So your generation was considered the strongest in this dungeons history?”

“Yes...In fact we conquered floors at tremendous speeds compared to our predecessors. The accumulation of boss drops and increasing our population some races actually became quite strong and dominate over the others. Since all monsters besides the boss spawn in each floor after death, certain hunting grounds were acquired by certain races and for the first time in our history it seemed like it would be possible to escape this place. There was peace between each of the races even though it was a constant struggle for getting out of here, we worked together.”

“And when you hit floor 63 that stopped?”

“No....it happened sometime before that.”

“The death of the Elkia race left us in a very vulnerable position. Though each race had its own respective commanders, the Elkia race were our unspoken leaders in this place. They were brilliant and were responsible for a lot of our advances over the years. They were our healers and are what actually helped unite all of the races together.......Their deaths came as a shock and happened just before the discovery of the Fomorians........Things got chaotic.....we just didn’t know our whole order was strung on such a thin string.”

Cam seemed to have many regrets in his life. He and his generation were considered to be the strongest generation in this dungeons history and due to the races acquiring manpower and high leveling spots they acquired strong weapons from monsters.  They were clearing floors much quicker than ever before and it was thought they would be able to accomplish the other 37 floors within their own lifetime.  Though tragedy struck all the dominoes tipped over. Though the death of the Elkia race seems foul play to me.

“....You said before there were only two combat effective classes against the Fomorians? Are you saying that the only two races in the dungeon that are able to fight are yours and that blue haired race?”

“That is correct.”

“So because those dark giants started coming down to the lower floors it pushed all the races back. I’m assuming these non-combat races live on the lower floors you spoke of before?”

“That is correct.”

‘Hmm....He doesn’t speak much about the lower floors when I press him. He was certainly talkative about the situations of what was happening on the upper floors though.’

“If I recall that one woman, Ecclaire was it? The Eis Neko....she thought I was a resident of floor 1. Why is that?”

“..........You actually could resemble some of the Annunake race with your white hair. Though you don’t have the same bushy tail or white ears as they do. Many residents of the lower floors aren’t in the best of health. Actually many of the remaining white lycanths  that have survived live on floor 1 along with the other races there.”

“If I recall Ecclaire acted as if your race was dwindling as well?”

As I pressed him he just looked down to the floor and lowered his eyes. He kept his hands behind his back but struggled to find the words to speak.

“....We too have been met with extreme loss do those titans. Though we have lost many of our number we haven’t lost quite as much as the Annunake. Due to a disaster that happened to floor 44 they lost a large number of their clan. Some stayed and fought but a lot of the remaining were crushed on floor 63 by the emergence of those dark beasts. If it were not for the death of the Elkia race many months prior to this then the Annunake family would have probably been the next race to leave us.”

“....Why would the Elkia races deaths keep the Annunake  alive?”

I don’t get what he’s getting at. The Annunake are apparently a race of white wolflike humans. The Elkia race would be a race that resembles a deer.....I’m assuming their relations would be bad?

“The Annunake’s cherished the Elkia race. In fact it was always known that their races have been on good terms since the 10 races were all brought here centuries ago. It is not known why the mysterious Annunake race always acted so friendly with the Elkia’s but they always regarded them as family. When the Elkia race were wiped out.......Many of the Annunake lost desire to continue fighting and left to live on the lower floors. “

“I see...”

Seems that the death of the Elkia race had a large effect on all of the other races once tragedy struck. Though the death of their race did effect many Annunake to stop wanting to fight which lead to their entire race not getting wiped out months later on a higher floor. With the loss of the Elkia’s for many of them they give up and chose to live out their days on the lower floors.

EEERRRCHHHH!

The elevator type device we are currently standing on has stopped....I guess we’ve arrived.

The large two gray doors open and the glowing orbs on the elevator wall glow into the dark interior of the first floor.

RARRRRRGHGHHH!!

Flap...

Flapp

Flappflafalfplalap

I can hear feint sounds of flapping and odd screeches in the distance. I can also hear a sound of water dripping in the distance as well. I feel my hearing has heightened but what this first floor feels like right now is a dark cave of some kind.

“This way Vali....”

As Cam casually walked forward into the darkness I quickly followed behind him. Since I cannot see well enough in the dark I pull out Loki’s mask from my inventory and activate Night Vision, one of the mask’s two skills. I can see in front of me is a very large cavern that goes deep into the core of middle earth.

Cam is walking down a wide path that looks to have been built into some kind of tunnel. There are large pieces of rock acting as pillars holding up the integrity of the large tunnels ceilings.

‘Cam did say that floor 1 was a dark place that people wouldn’t choose to live but I was expecting a lot different than this.’

Who would want to live in this dark chasm.

I activated presence sense and noticed that nothing appeared on my radar. Though it is still at its first level it can still get a grasp of an area of 50 meters around me. Though I just heard flapping from before I could have sword a monster would have been near by.

“Floor 1 is where our history first began in this dungeon. It is the location Balor first appeared before each of the races he brought and trapped here. It is on floor one where our first city was built and the unity of races first began. It once stood as the foundation of our unity, though it is now over run and over populated by many species today.  The health of the city has diminished heavily over the last several years also due to the over population and shortage of food.”

“You said that their were other floors that can sustain life correct? Why not just bring more of the races on this floor to the higher floors.”

“.....I agree to this. But the alliances council agreed that increasing the population on higher floors would actually hurt our cause much more. Many race’s leaders live on a higher floor. But due to the population expanding too much over the years and with the appearance of the Fomorians, we have been pushed back. “

“ .....So that thing about your numbers dwindling is actually bullshit it’s just if your not considered a “combat efficient race” your forced to live on the lower floors.”

Cam stopped walking and the large dark cavern remained silent. He didn’t turn around to face me though I knew he was searching for a way to answer me. His hands remained clasped behind his back and his form remained unmoved.

“.......Your quite perceptive......Though they are not my own beliefs they are the beliefs of some.”

He started to walk forward through the path that I just now noticed began to get narrower and narrower as the the path grew forward. Looking around my surroundings this really is a dark and ominous dungeon. The ceilings and walls were shaped with sharp rocks coming out of them. They were odd dark spikes that looked to have an odd swiveled look to them. The cave we are walking through really does not give me any good premonitions of if I was one of the individuals brought and trapped here centuries ago.

“So....what floor do you live on Cam?”

“....I live on a small farm on floor 45 with my mate Waltrude.”

“Oh so your a farmer eh? And you got yourself a wife look at that?”

“Yes...The Reiki train there hands to kill as well as to create......And I’m assuming wife is human for mate? You seem shocked I’d have one Vali.”

“Not at all your a rather stoic guy after all hehe. So I take it your wife farms as well?”

“Yes Waltrude is quite the Reiki, you’ve actually met her. She was with me when we first met you on floor 52.”

“Oh you mean the woman who dragged me through the forest? Hmm well congrats she seems like a fine woman.”

Cam stopped walking and turned his head to the side to look at me. He gave a puzzled expression.

“...You have an interesting way of speaking. You refer to my wife as a woman? The tales from the past about humans is that you were a rather greedy and arrogant race. The stories told some were kind while many for the most part did not treat us demi-human races very well. Though I heard they couldn't all communicate so well with the other races.”

“So you and your generation have never really met a human before huh?”

“No but there are some pictures and sculptures carved into the walls in floor one so we had an idea of how your kind looked.”

‘Hmm I never really noticed but I guess my train of speech isn’t correct anymore. I refer to many female demi-human women as women, and I guess in regards to what I’m saying it isn’t correct because a woman is a female human, not necessarily considered as a female Reiki. I guess I didn’t notice it before now.’

“Well, I have a special skill that helps me to communicate in any language. It comes in handy.”

“I see....”

As Cam and I pressed further into the quiet cave I began to smell a rancid odor. It honestly smelt like death but I couldn’t see where the smell was coming from. I started to look around the dungeon floor but could not find any traces of life on this floor at all. Cam somehow noticing my distress turned his head back forward and said not to worry about monsters. The monsters here are around level 7-30 but due to Cam’s and mine high level we won’t be approached by any so candidly. But the lingering sent of death still remains in my nostrils.

“Well......we’re here. The center of floor 1. The first city of Dark Eden, the city of Anfang, the city of beginnings.”

As he stopped and gazed into a large opening into the pitch black cavern I walked up beside him to view floor 1 of Balor’s dungeon. An overpowering stench of death passes through the white mask and into my nostrils. Even with my mask it is a poorly lit city.

It was.....not what I was expecting. In front of me was a large open space that looks to have been dug out. Many tunnels I can see in the distance but the walls bordering the large city in the center are the same as the ones in the tunnel we just walked through. The ceiling now is at least 10 times higher now than the tunnel and the city in the middle has large walls surrounding many oddly built buildings some that go almost as high as the ceiling itself.

Looking up towards the top of the buildings and along the ceiling I really am impressed by the way this species was able to build a city down here from nothing. They’ve dug out tunnels, built walls, spires and houses in here. They’ve even made carvings along the walls......Wait!

Staring along the walls I see odd designs and markings along the dungeon walls. At first I thought it was just part of the cave rock but there are carvings of some kind along the walls.

Moving my eyes along to the walls I then notice.......they aren’t carvings......They’re....bodies. Skeletons are chained across the walls of rock surrounding the walls of this entire floor. The bodies are enough to cover the walls fully and reach up to the ceiling......Actually....the ceiling has some fresh bodies hanging from there as well. Some of them don’t look quite as old as the other skeletons and haven’t decayed fully. This entire floor is filled with the stench of death.

gulp...

I started to walk forward towards the poorly lit city in the center of the dungeon. The stench is starting to get more and more overpowering now and its starting to make my eyes water.

Cam continues alongside me and I can see that though his appearance hasn’t changed at all his mood does seem to have gone rather grim.

“....The worst part I find about Balor’s dungeon is that we aren’t able to properly mourn our dead. Upon death here, your body will be transported to decorate the walls of each dungeon floor. Balor once joked that he use to burry the bodies beneath each floor but he ran out of space.......This is...... our struggle.”

Walking further to the city born in a dungeon, I can’t help but look now in horror. To imagine a fate like this and being drug here along with your family and clan. If you were to die here your loved ones would have to view your body lining the walls of the dungeon your trapped in forever....Balor truly is a sick and twisted fallen deity.

Drawing closer to the city I notice the wall surrounding the  city doesn’t have any gate. It just has a large opening between the wall.

Walking with Cam we passed through the entrance to the city and I then felt an odd  cooling sensation and felt as if the smell of death had diminished some. It felt like I had passed one of those odd barriers from tv.

“Each city we founded has a barrier like this one that was left to us by the Elkia race.”

“I see..”

Cam and I walked through the dark city and what’s odd is there isn’t any guards anything watching the gates. I can see people in the distance next to oddly shaped buildings that resemble crudely built shacks. I can see some fires lit around the city but the overall feel to this city is rather grim and dirty. Even though it has a somewhat different atmosphere than the cave surrounding it, this is still an unpleasant feeling.

Walking through the city I notice these small shacks must act as houses for the people here. I now have a closer glimpse of the races down here and they are quite odd looking. I see a lot of very small dwarf like races. Though they have the torso and appendages of a human, they’re faces are covered in hair. Some of them have very bushy grey or brown hair. I’d essentially think of them as tiny humans but they have so much facial hair as well it covers their entire face. I can’t make out any facial expressions though a lot of them have started to become aware of my presence.

“Oohhh”

“Wowawawa”

Many of those short raced demi humans were all huddled together around a fire and had turned and looked at me and Cam. We continue to  walk past them and past the living grounds of the city of Anfang.

Anfang means city of beginnings but what kind of beginnings is this for someone to be born into. It’s dark, the walls and ceiling itself remind them of being trapped down here. This isn’t just a struggle like Cam said before.

As we walked past more shacks I can see eyes from the openings peeking through at both Cam and I. Though many of the eyes I’m seeing are red and glow in the dark. Though this floor is very poorly lit, the races here seem to have no problem seeing at all. We continued to walk and I could here a lot of chatter from my surroundings.

Many of those same small demi humans were wondering behind me and Cam and trying to act like they were hiding. I can’t even tell if they are children or not since their faces are covered in fur. Though all their other body is not covered in fur. Many of them are wearing something that look like overalls made out of animal leather. They have feet that resembles a big foot and fur appearing on the top of each. Each of them look quite cautions of us actually.

We continued walking through the area as I wanted to get a good look around this place. Cam said the leaders of all the races weren’t ok with allowing the higher levels to accept too many people from the lower floors because it would potentially harm more than it would help. I’m assuming if they moved a large number of the people on the lower floors to the floors that are capable of being populated the food supplies and availability for resources would decrease. But who is to say who is allowed to live one what floor, who is allowed to decide that the races that aren’t combat efficient to live on other floors. It feels like there is a lot of inner strife between these races that I wasn’t aware of. Though it’s not much different than those in this world. The strong take control and make the rules, the weak simply don’t have the ability to refuse.

‘It’s just amazing that these races are all locked in here together but there is still internal fighting and racial issues.’

“GET AWAY! RAHCHH!!!””

I hear the sound of a girl screaming followed by a loud screech that pieces my ear drums. Cam and I look at one another and and run towards the source of the sound. We sprinted past the crudely built shacks with eyes still pointed at us and round the corner. There I see.....

A small....ummm what is that?

In front of me I see two figures in the distance running away and turn my head to the side. Standing at about the height of stomach is.....a little girl? Though...she’s not a girl. I see her eyes are bright red and she is staring back at me. Her teeth are glaring back at me and I can see she is huddled next to something. It’s another woman.....though she looks to have been partially eaten by a monster. The little red eyed girl does too actually.

After I look over the scene I can now see that they weren’t eaten by monsters....Their lower halves are that of a large spider. They must be the race of Arachnee that Cam said about before. They appear to be a race of spider like humans with the lower half of a spider. The little girl is now no longer looking at us and is covering over the larger figure that looks like a larger version of herself. The woman with the lower half of a spider the little girl arachnee was covering had her legs crushed and the lower half of her abdomen looked to have been slightly crushed and a green like liquid was oozing out of the sides. Looking at the Arachnee in front of me I see her Hp is dropped gradually to the bottom and is slowly dying from her injuries.

Her eyes look heavy and she clearly doesn't have long left.

I step past Cam and and he makes a reaction to stop me but I simply wave my hand at him. I kneel down and reach my hand out to the Arachnee woman with the puncture wound and the little girl rushes to stop me.

“NOO!!! Just go AWAY!”

“.....I might be able to heal her.”

“What?! HOW!?....How can you heal her?!”

I without answering reach past the little girl and put my hands on the woman’s face and the other hand on  her lower injured spider half.....I take a deep sigh and activated Freya’s Soul Recovery as well as amplifying the magic power released by the skill.

A bright light rose from man hands and lit up the surrounding area. The open wound on the Arachnee started to seal up slowly but her hp was still decreasing. I continually activated freya’s soul recovery and began to try to follow her pulse. Death’s Grip opened a door for me in understand to tap into life. Though it’s not like I can use the skill to heal someone, I can use the understanding of the skill to monitor if the person is at least stabilizing.

After the wound was sealed I began to put my hands on the broken legs of the spider and the crushed parts began to repair and come back to life. The Arachnee in front of me still had her eyes slightly open. Though her hp stopped dropping she had lost quite a bit of blood and was in a critical state. Her color in her human half was quite pale. Her hair was dark black and now she began to blink her eyes.....She has 6 eyes?

Four new eyelids above the Arachnee’s regular set of eyes are two pairs of bright red eyes that still looked to be out of life.

‘Though her hp has stopped dropping I can hear her pulse slowing....but I do not know why.’

“ Truly you do have quite phenomanel magic. Malfius was right to put so much faith in you. Though her wounds are gone her chi is steadily dropping, Arachnee are a race that can survive quite well on blood, though they eat other things as well. We need to provide her with more blood .”

“Wait....can’t someone with a different blood type just kill the person?”

“Blood type? Listen I don’t know what your talking about but the Arachnee have the ability to absorb nutrients from other species blood and it gives them abilities and sustenance. That is why they haven’t had the best of report with other races.”

Figuring out what Cam was getting out I scratch my forearm and a slow trinket of blood starts to fall from my arm. I reach in front of the women and just shrug as if telling her this is the only way. I bet it’s odd to offer your blood to someone and I honestly don’t know how to ask her to do this but hopefully she doesn’t want to die.

She picked up my hands and brought it to her mouth and began sucking my blood......‘mmm it’s a very tingly feeling. I can feel as if my life force itself could be taken away right now. Though it’s not painful, it is just an odd experience. It does however tense up all of my muscles in my shoulders and arms. After about a minute the woman Arachnee lowers my hand and starts heavily breathing. The little girl closed in and started to hug her while crying.

“Mama!!!!”

“It’s ok Karma...It’s ok mama’s ok.....Just....Wo are you sir? I..How can I ever repay you for saving my life.”

“....Don’t worry about it. “

‘Honestly it’s not like I’m a good person or anything, just helping someone that is in need right next to me. If you have the ability to do something you should be able to at least help those around you. Though I may be potentially going to war with Balor with these people. I need to get on their good sides. What comes after Balor....I need as many people as possible to survive. ‘

Congratulations! You have received a new title:

Death Canceler

All stats rise by 5          All healing magic receives a 10% buff    

You have saved a soul that was marked by death, you have gained the title of Death Canceler.  A highly awarded Title that Doctor’s and Priests around the world covet. Many will marvel at the title of those who are capable of granting life when it is fleeting

‘Hmm my Freya’s Recovery skill has also gone up to Intermediate Level 7. It says I can heal wounds and injuries both seen and unseen. Though I was able to use it to the point of closing an open wound and repairing fractures to sustain her life. I’m guessing my magic manipulation is allowing me to repair things I shouldn’t have repaired with the skill alone. I’m also receiving a bonus in this dungeon for a week so any experience I gain is doubled....I can probably heal a lot of people in this first floor and boost my skills a lot down here....I can accomplish multiple things at once with this actually.....’

I started to look around and noticed that the large buildings in the distance looked nothing like the shacks here. This must be the lowest part of the city. The buildings here look to be made with much more flimsy material and judging by the way everyone looks here it is likely that not many of those here have eaten. The small demi human race with faces covered in hair look like they all have dirt and bruises on their skin. They must work hard to grasp any amount of food down here there is. Looking at the red eyes in the distance I suppose there are more Arachnee here as well. I see another race peeking behind some shacks made of sticks that look like tiny elves. This must be the pixie race.

I started to walk a little closer and one jumped behind the shack. I’m curious what pixies look like so I walk forward and Cam starts to follow me.

Walking around the corner a small male demi human fell down and is looking up at me. He doesn’t say anything but looks quite frightened when he sees me. He crawled backwards and there I see a girl that look quite similar to him. They look like a race of skinny hobbits and have pointed ears. They look like they have fairy wings on their back but the boys are torn and the girls look rotted. He backed into her and they both trembled while looking back at me. As I was about to say something the boy jumped up and yelled something.

“Don’t...Don’t take her!”

“....I’m not here to take anyone.”

“ShutUP! That’s all the people from the top come here for anyways. To take ours away. I won’t let you!”

“I’ve actually come here to meet all of you. I plan on taking everyone out of this dungeon soon. Though....I think we need to start healing everyone and getting everyone fed real soon. We need everyone at our strongest if we are going to get everyone out of here safely.”

“....I don’t believe you! How could I trust anything you say!”

The small pixie boys eyes started to show a feint glow but then faded away.

I walked forward to him and reached my hand towards him. He swung his arm at me and I caught it before he could form a fist. Looking down at it his arm is covered in bruises and small cuts. He doesn’t have any shoes on and his hair is brown. His face and body is covered in black dirt that appears to be the same from the dungeon floor. He’s very thin, almost as thin as his female friend here. I activated soul recovery and watch as the small cuts on his body start to repair themselves. The light shines and the two pixie like individuals in front of me widen their eyes and I can see now the color of both of their eyes are a dull orange and a dull purple.

“....Tanin your hands!!!....He healed you!”

The girl started gripping the pixie boys hands and rubbing them as if trying to see if they were truly healed. They both seemed shocked at what I had done.

The boy continued feeling around his body while the girl jumped in front of me and hugged me.

“Thank you sir....Tanin is my little brother and well......thank you”

She gripped onto my the back of my jacket. Her small body reached around my waste and looked to have a ghastly appearance of her own. Her eyes were dull and her wings attached to her back were see through and looked to be breaking apart from rot.

Pixie’s are said to be a magical race that are often compared with fairies. Though this race is much different than I imagined. Pixies are said to be highly playful and magical beings and enjoyed playing pranks on people. They look sickly.

I place my hand on the girls shoulder and activate my healing skill again. Though the small wounds start to heal the recovery of her wings does not happen at all. The large almost butterfly like wings that stood on her back  were in a broken and rotted state. They have a dark brown color to them much like this girls hair.

‘Hmmm....’

“Oh...Thank you!”

She looked at her cuts on her body and looked to be quite happy. Though I wasn’t able to heal her or her brothers wings at all. They’re wings look like decayed mosquito wings now that I think of it.

Thinking this to act as a sort of disease I remember using a crystal on Ari when I healed her. It said on the skill mastery menu that if you use one of these magical cores from a monster they can increase the healing affects and even help cure some disease.

What I need to do is start healing everyone in here that I can. I can raise my skill as well as intimacy with these people along the way and find out interesting information about this place.

I told Cam to go collect as much food as possible. If that meant hunting or whatever he had to do, collect it and bring as much meet and ingredients as he could down to the first floor. Anything that he could get from the Reiki’s farms or monster meet that is edible to bring down is much as possible. He gave me an odd expression but oddly didn’t refuse my demands. I’m not sure what his job is if it is to make me happy while Malfius is away so that I help them, or if he genuinely wants to help these people. Though he does agree to help with this.

I also have Hjokk go collect as many monsters with those odd magic crystals in their forehead. When I mentioned this Cam actually mentioned they had something similar to what I was referring to. It was magical cores that are found in many monsters in this dungeon. They are used in enchanting some weapons they had been using as well as other inventions over the years.

‘They really are a crafty group of races.’

I then had him collect as many of those he could as well and had Hjokk just go and gather food. She like me had an ability to teleport to another area. However, she says her ability is more like a warp skill and she can tether it to locations she has been or to certain people, ie me.

“Everyone who needs to be healed of any injuries of wounds come forward now! I will heal you. Pass word around that in just a couple of hours we will be providing everyone who wants food to come fill their bellies!”

I yelled that to the crowd in the that were gathering around from the bright lights that were shining from me activating my skill. After I announced there had been food many of the residents here started talking amongst themselves and looking around at each other. I could roughly hear what some of them were saying and it seemed that even though I may have just said that they wouldn’t just believe it....The lack of trust in this world runs deep. Not just with them but even with the elves I’ve met and some of the other demi humans when I’m first meeting them. People in this world don’t naturally trust humans though they may not even know if I’m human or not.

After a while no one came forward. No one even ran away to tell anyone about the feast I had just spoke of. They just looked back at me oddly. I was about to say something when out of the group of small people came a small furry headed man holding a child with him. He ran up to me and held the small furry haired child up to me. The small Jiji race child had difficulty breathing and sounded to be quite ill.

“You...You said you could heal people?....Is...Is that true?”

‘I guess it would be odd if you lived in a world where you thought healers were gone.’

I put my hand on the small child and activated my soul recovery and a large light left my hands and into the small child. I continued doing this process for about a minute and the child’s breathing had stabilized. The jiji child had small bite marks all over her so I wasn’t sure what had bitten her but it had caused her to fall into a critical condition and cause this kind of reaction. I guess there are still dangerous monsters of some kind on this floor.

“Her...her breathing is back to normal! Thank you! He healed my daughter!”

After that everyone started clamoring and making loud noises amongst each other.

“What is your name sir? “

“Vali, what about yourself?”

“I am Henley, and this is my daughter Joxen.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you both.”

“Was what your were saying before....about the...food? Was that true as well?”

“Yes were bringing some food down here right now and prepare it for you guys.”

“....Why are you doing all this.?”

The small furred man looked back up at me and I couldn’t see through his hair to make out any form of a facial expression. Though the large dark brown fur shook when he spoke resembling a mustache, I couldn’t really see the Jiji races eyes.

“Like I said......Hopefully soon I plan on helping you guys escape this place.”

“Yes you said that before you.....you think we will be able to leave floor one soon?”

“No...I mean out of this dungeon.”

After I said that the man known as Henley just stared back at me quietly in a large crowded area that was buzzing with noise with people running back and forth. Everyone started running up to me and  I began to heal them one by one. Since I would be doing this for quite a while since the food is being collected I put on my black robe I got from Malthiel due to the MP increase and began healing the large line of people who gathered here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After about 2 hours or so I lost track of how many people I healed. I ran out of mana several times but due to the MP recovery of this incredibly high quality robe I was able to continue quite quickly. The 25% Magic Resistance I have also found gives me a slight boost in mana recovery as well. Though I wasn’t able to cure some of the disease some of the pixies. I told the ones with sickness to wait to be healed later whenever I got my hands on more of those odd magic crystals from monsters.

My skill mastery for Freya’s Soul Recovery rose to Intermediate Level 7. Now it states my understanding of recovering ones soul by the power of Freya has risen and my Soul Recovery will leave the soul and body more beautiful after I have touched it.

The experience gained from healing so many different races was ridiculous. That along with the benefits of being among the first individuals to find this place is amazing. I need to try fighting the monsters in this dungeon as well. Hopefully I can gain a few skills from the monsters here as well. I can already see this dungeon as a wealth of gain for myself if I continue to train here. Though what I’ve found after taking care of my mother and healing Ari.....I’ve found odd benefits in doing things I naturally did for my siblings since I was young. I gained stats and experience after every meal I prepared. After every time I used the healing skill. What better way to gain experience in this world than to increase my current skills and gain new ones. All while gaining new allies in this unknown world to myself.

This dungeons atmosphere is a cruel and broken one. The lives here of everyone I’ve healed I can see the struggle to live in this place. The wanting to live on. It’s hard to imagine honestly in in such a place, where your dead are scattered on the walls around you and  buried in the dirt beneath you...’...Their will to push on and fight to live on in such a place is quite admirable honestly.’

Some of the injuries were quite severe. If I didn’t have the ability of magic manipulation there would be no way to repair some of the injuries of those who came forward. Many had large bite marks taken out of parts of there body and were poorly bandaged. They had said they tried rubbing some ointments they made on it but it got infected and many of them were honestly quite close to death.

Many had family members who carried them there and had very high fevers. The ones with large bites from monsters from their flesh were barely able to make the trip. I was somehow able to get them out of critical condition. I had Henley and a group of other Jiji race people with him to walk to every house and see if there are any people who need to be healed as well as fed. The idea popped in my head just in case there were some who wouldn’t have heard of my message or couldn’t leave due to injury.

After several hours of increasing my recovery skill and healing those on floor 1. I saw a large race. Much larger than the small races I have been healing so far. They stood tall and were very muscular. Each had long white hair and bright silver eyes that glowed in the poorly lit city. Some had pointy ears and bushy tails but some showed to have been partially torn off. They showed to have just as bad of injuries as those I healed before but they wore their scars with pride. None ever approached me.

Behind a few of the white haired individuals I see two much larger figures. They look roughly 7 feet tall and for all tense and purposes look like humanoid wolves. They have the the body and abdomen of an athletic human, while having large arms and massive fists. Their bodies are covered in white and silver fur and the two wolf men’s claws shine just as bright as their eyes do here on floor one.

None of them approached me but just continued to stare at me. I didn’t pay them much mind but it was uncomfortable to have them watch me. When I squinted my eyes and focused on their levels I saw that the white wolves were each around level 270. Though one of the ones in front looked human the two in the back looked more beasts than demi humans. The other demi humans on this level aren’t even over level 50. So since I have been waiting on Hjokk and Cam it is a tad bit unsettling being watched by these large people.

I didn’t have to wait long as Hjokk came back and arrived on my shoulder.

“I gathered enough meat I believe. What are you planning on doing anyways Vali? You plan on feeding everyone down here?”

“That’s exactly what I’m planning on doing.”

Me and Hjokk began to whisper to one another. She still didn’t want anyone to hear her so she would only speak between people I was healing. It was kind of funny as she seemed to act quite frustrated that I wouldn’t just take time for her....’...Hehe...though she can’t make a grin she can give a pretty intimidating glare.’

‘I don’t blame her I guess. I can’t just go around trusting anyone. And this society also seems to filled with their own internal problems.’

Hjokk even brought a few trees she cut down to make a fire and brought everything out of her inventory in a wide open space  a ways away from the demi humans shacks. A large heard of some kind of animal is dropped next to the large wall only a small distance away from everyone.

‘......WOW.’

Hjokk may have kill over 400 monsters. I have no idea how many bodies are there but it’s not like the smell of death could get any worse around here. The mountain of monsters stood taller than the wall that surrounds this city. The monsters looked to be some type of bull type monster.

Everyone around is wide eyed at the large mountain of bodies and Hjokk flew back over to my shoulder. I threw the boards into a pile and cast fireball into the center.....Within moments a large bonfire was made. I took out a small table I had built using tool creation and a couple other supplies I always keep in my inventory for when I cook outdoors. Luckily many of the races down here have the dismantling ability and I had each of them cut the leather off of the meat. Apparently many of the Jiji are quite great with their hands. I’m not sure if they are skilled butchers or just hard workers.

Each of them work in unison and collected the leather and worked to cut through meat cleanly to save every last piece of meat available. They were very intricate and watching them was actually quite fascinating. They were very quick and their hands I know noticed were rather large for their bodies as well. They looked to be quite strong for their small bodies and moved quite quickly. The Jiji race is small but they look to be quite the little workers.

After the leather was collected they chopped the meat and brought it to me in stacks they even made a tarp made out of the leather and stacked it in unison. After I saw how each of the worked together to climb the mountain and lift the bodies in a lined faction I then realized how that massive wall on floor 52 must have been built. These demi humans all work rather well together and if this city is where the majority of them live, I think they are responsible for building most of the things I have seen here. While the Reiki were more of farmers and resemble the idea of monks when I think of them. The Jiji race appear to be a race that also has its own benefits......Cam acted like they are looked down on but regardless if its because they are hungry or not they are all quite hard workers. They even dismantle much faster and cleaner than I do.

I started rubbing the ingredients I mixed in my hands over the beef from the strange monsters Hjokk had brought. Around that time Cam came along and gave me a lot of ingredients from their farms and some crystals that he could collect in the allotted time. He stared wide eyed at the ridiculous size of bodies of animals and just stared back at me like I was crazy.

Just then the Annunake race people I believe to have identified walked over to Cam.

“Ah Captain, It’s good to see you again.”

“Ah...It’s great to see you as well Akino you look well.”

A female Annunake walked up to Cam and addressed him as a captain. After that several individuals walked up along with her.

“Yes Cameron.......What exactly are you doing down here?”

One of the wolf men from before came and stepped in front of Cam and stood taller than both of us. He had the legs of a wolf as well and he wore dark black pants over them. He had a large white bushy tail coming from behind his back but had no shirt on showing off his strongly formed physique. He had grey scars covering his white furred face, body, and arms. He looked to have been through many battles.....The wolf looked to be quite strong.

“...Adimar....It is a pleasure to see see you again sir. I am simply here along with Vali and are planning on cooking a meal for those on the lower floors.”

“.......Vali hmm......”

The large wolf faced man came walking towards me and looked to be observing me as he walking around me. Though I don’t have an appraisal type skill, I can’t see much about objects or people in this world. Though since we are in a dungeon I can see levels of those of anyway level higher than me if I squint my eyes. Apparently not all individuals outside a dungeon can see levels or information on others unless they have an appraisal type skill. Only monsters show levels. Though since I am a blessed one if I squint I can perceive some form of information about someone.

The wolf’s name is Adimar and his level was 288. When he got to my side he stopped .

“.......Boy....Are you human?”

He whispers that into my ear while I am cooking. I still have my mask on though he must have saw my human shaped ears. I continued  cutting up the meat and mixing some of the vegetables into a soup for everyone. The ingredients rubbed between my hands dropped into the broth I had been making with the seasoned cooked meat.

“That’s right.....though I’m not sure why you call me a boy.”

“.....Tis your scent little one. You don't give off the smell of an adult. ”

The white haired human looking girl looked back at me and smirked. She looked the most human of everyone down here. I can see what looks like ears to have been cut off on the top of her head, as well as part of her tail looks to have been ripped off.

I’m not even sure what this girl is talking about but Adimar isn’t refuted what she said either. It’s weird but this girl in front of me doesn’t appear to be showing any demi human traits whatsoever. There were only 4 of the white haired race I thought to be the Annunake but two of them looked more beast than man, while the other two just looked like regular humans.

Adimar didn’t say anything but continued to stare at me with his silver eyes. I didn’t respond much to it and just continued cooking the meal. I wasn’t sure if he would start anything here but since I’m claiming to cook everyone a meal and have healed many here I’m sure he wouldn’t try to fight me here just because I’m a human.

After cooking the broth in a large pot I continued to cook meet in the form of steaks and made them over a fire. I put a big iron slab and rig it to stand over a smaller fire I have created. I’m not sure how many dishes I prepared or how many mouths were fed but I’d say the crowd was roughly around 9,000 people or well demi humans. I wasn’t sure if we collected enough food due to how fast the food was being eaten, but the demi humans were all quite small on this floor so it was possible to feed everyone until their stomachs were full.

My Cooking skill had also risen to Novice Level 3. Cooking for 9,000 people who also had several helpings rose the skill quite quickly. I’m still in the earlier stages of the skill mastery and the later masteries take forever to increase, though I have risen a lot today thanks to the increase in experience gained and cooking for so many people. I think Loki might have a hand in this for helping me gain experience faster but I don’t want to think about that right now. Thinking of his stupid smile would only put me in a bad mood......’...Ugh...Loki.’

As I stared off squinting my eyes at the thought I hear the voices of everyone around filling their stomachs excitedly. Many at first were even unsure how to speak to me when they walked up to receive food I gave them. Filling their bowls with soup or giving them a giant steak made their eyes each shine much more than before. It almost brought many of them to tears as they continued shoveling food down there mouth. They probably didn’t even chew any of it.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Though I raised my cooking skill quite a lot in just one feast down here. From gaining all those levels in mastery I also gained 5,000  to my health as well. The buffs from cooking go to my Hp, stamina, and sometimes even my intellect/wisdom when using different cooking methods I haven’t tried in this world yet. This world rewards everything you do and cooks get some interesting buffs in this world. I want to see if there are even cooking skills in this world. If there are classes and professions there has to be things that work for every class like the game would..’..Hmm.’

There were thousands of Jiji’s, Arachnee, Pixie and even some Annunake in attendance. The feast and bonfire lasted for several hours and after many had eaten I saw each race show their reactions much differently. The Jiji race sat back and relaxed, some of the pixies would dance around the fire and the Arachnee would even dance with one another too.  It is remarkable how they can find happiness down in a place like this. Their spirits appear to be up which is good. This  was truly never a site I would see in my old world.

So many different races coming together and enjoying our time together. I talked to many of the races and used some of the crystal gems on those I couldn’t cure before. Most of the gems were green and blue while a couple were yellow. I was told the strength in magic crystals go green-blue-yellow-red-purple-black.

I used them on several of those who looked sick and was not just an injury I could fix before. The 10% rise in healing magic along with the effects of a crystal are truly spectacular. I can feel like my healing touch was a hose that was tied up for a long time and then suddenly released. With the power from the small magic crystals I now could feel Freya’s Soul Recovery burst from the stone and shot into the individuals I used the skill on. Some it healed entirely of whatever sickness or disease they may have had. Though when I used it on a pixie something weird happened. The light from the crystal would glow brightly then scatter over the pixie like a shower. The sparks get absorbed and a feint light starts to glow around them.

They are a magical race so maybe they can be healed in different ways than other races.

“My wings are back!!”

The girl I had tried healing from before had large royal blue wings extend from her back and glow in a way they hadn’t before. The light was a bright aqua color and lit up the area in a whole new light that didn’t come from the large bonfire from before.

“Th..thank you!....Vali!”

She hugged me again and many of the pixies from before came around and started jumping up and down.

“Look Aurora’s wings are back!”

The pixie  girl Aurora in front of me has her eyes glowing now in a bright color of blue. Her hair was dark before and even her eye color had changed. Even though her face and body are still dirty. Her hair color is now a bright color of green. It’s enough that there is even a glow to it.

‘The pixie race appear to be a magically infused race. Perhaps living down here is more unhealthy for them then I’m aware of.’

“Vali!”

“VALIII!!”

The pixies started dancing around as if very excited for some reason. I guess they knew I was going to heal them though none of them came forward and asked. They all just kept dancing around the pixie girl seeming  happy for her.  I started healing each of them one by one and my Soul Recovery skill actually rose 2 levels to Intermediate level 9.

Due to using my recovery skill at advanced stages as well as by repairing pixies has lead to a massive increase in mastering skill levels. Though the earlier levels of mastery come quick this is a great place to level up your skills. I can’t wait to fight some monsters in this dungeon.

I only healed around 30 of the pixies and each shined in a different ambience that lit up the once dark dungeon with their after glow. In such a dark and condemned place, with grim surrounding the walls, the ceiling, the ground the stand on, they couldn’t have have acted happier. Even the ones who weren't healed were hugging the ones who were and they all shared in each others happiness....It was truly fascinating.  They are an interesting culture.

I felt an intense gaze and looked over to the same white wolf from before, Adimar. His silver eyes stared back at me and his long white hair flowed like a main from his large dire wolf appearance.

I look away and see Cam is speaking to some one. Cam salutes the person and runs over to me and tells me the leaders have been waiting on floor 52 for a while now and have been waiting for us. I guess we have lost track of time.

I bid everyone farewell and told them I would be back soon. Karma and her mother both came to wish me a goodbye and to thank me again for everything. I also saw Henley and many of the jiji race behind him waving at me. The pixies stopped dancing and ran towards me to all hug me and wish me a goodbye. There race is the most accepting of me. I don’t know if it’s that they trust easy, or what but apparently in their culture giving them that bright light back is a big deal to them. I heard them whisper quite a lot amongst themselves but they all flew around and waved at me goodbye.

“Bye Vali!”

All the men and women pixies shouted in unison and then Adimar came walking up.

“Hope it’s alright if I join you both.”

“Ah....Chief Adimar....I don’t suppose that would be a problem at all.”

“Haha it’s fine Cam you needn’t salute me. I simply wish to know what the council’s will with this boy as well.”

He glared down at me and looked forward. He hasn’t really spoken to me yet for that one time but he hasn’t given me an indication at liking me at all. His glares at first were that of curiosity, when he found out I was human he then gave me looks of odd suspicion. Though after I saw him and his followers talking with Cam at the feast each of his followers have looked at me now with  completely different glares. I don’t feel that they think well of me though.

“I’ll be tagging along as well then.”

The woman Akino also chose to come with Cam, Adimar and myself. Since we needed to get to floor 52 quickly according to the Reiki attendant we followed him deeper into the city to a different platform. It is part of the building that nearly reached the top of the first floor’s ceiling. We stepped into a large platform and where an Eis Neko in dark clothing was waiting for us. He glared at us and we stepped onto a platform and he activated something on his bracelet. Then all of us were then transported to a large room.

“Hmm so you have a warp ability?”

“....It is just a way some of us travel quickly through floors. I had to borrow this from General Alysteir....She is very pissed she was left waiting.”

The neko race guy seems oddly angry with me for some reason. Then again I’m not getting nice looks from anyone else either. The giant room is empty and we are told to follow the the neko raced man. Walking through to the outside the floor I walked through this morning I now notice is completely abandoned. There isn’t the sound of anything here and I could have sworn I heard some training or people on the wall working from before. I can’t hear anything now.

We continue to walk through the quiet city while light from the sky illuminated the entire town from the light of the large moon in the sky. A large blanket of shade however stood over a large majority of the city due to the giant wall, though it was a large city from it’s interior now that I’m walking through it, it is still deadly quiet.

“So...That odd bird of yours....Does it taste as good as that food you made?”

The woman Akino tried to make a conversation as we made our way through the abandoned city streets.

“Ha...I wouldn’t know, I’ve  never tried to hunt something like Hjokk.”

“Oh is that its name? So it’s more of a pet then.”

Hjokk then glares back at me and I just simply smile back at her.

“Haha, I don’t know I feel like I’m honestly the pet at times.”

“That so....”

The white haired women continued to walk forward through the city without looking back at me. I don’t know what her or Adimar’s problem with me were but they did not seem to give off an atmosphere of liking me. They did eat my food but they honestly didn’t give me the impression they trusted me at all.

“Yep...fraid my bird is much scarier than me....”

“Ok...we’re here.”

With that the neko man opened up double doors to the quiet room and the image of the same war room from earlier was now filled people. Several demi humans of many kinds I haven’t seen yet were gathered.

Sitting around the table was an assortment of different demi humans with several of their own kind standing behind them. Their was a white haired jiji race, a white colored Arachnee woman with white hair along with a white spider like body. Behind her were two Arachnee that had short black hair and long pointy fingers. They looked to be rather dangerous. The white Spider queen also had 2 sets of red eyes and looked at me with a very dangerous gaze.

There was also a strange birdlike race seated across from them.They each have large feathered wings coming from their backs and brightly colored feathers coming from the tops of their skulls and hair. They resembled a war chief headdress in a way. They looked to be large for demi humans and the large male leading them had the head of an eagle and it looked almost like one of those mascots you would see running around a sporting event. Though this creature gave off a very intimidating presence of his own. His muscles were very large and he his talon like appendages looked to be dangerous.

Sitting beside them was a red pixie that glowed much brighter than the ones I saw on level 1. She was looking at me curiously and had a couple of other small pixies gathered behind her as well. There were more Annunake  race here as well and even a few that looked like Adimar. They were all strong individuals and each gave off a serious atmosphere while looking towards us.

There was also Malfius sitting beside a blue haired man with short hair. He was a member of the dark clothed neko race and standing behind him is that same blue haired neko women from before. Next to her was a white haired women in black clothing and also wore the twin swords at her side. Though she looked to be from the same race as Malfius. She was actual quite an alluring women.

As much as I wanted to stop and stare at that women I couldn’t. There standing next to her is someone who gives me a very erie feeling. Out of everyone in this entire room this individual gives off such a tingling sensation I’m forced to take notice of her...'Why is my focus drawn to this woman?'

There in the same dark uniform and a captains hat is a women with long blue hair.  Her black uniform fits tightly to her figure and looks much more fancy than those around her. She has the same swords at her sides but looks to have several items she is wearing that look peculiar. She is somehow of higher rank than the other individuals around her but not the man sitting next to Maflius. He looks to be the leader. But I can’t for some reason take my eye of this women with long blue hair.....

Though these are it....These are the 7 race leaders all gathered in one room with their representatives. These are the Seven people I need to talk to.

“Great your here now Vali...Adimar oh it’s good to see you, Though I wasn’t expecting you here of all places.”

Malfius spoke up and adressed the white wolf man standing next to me.

“Yes.....I too wished to join in on this council. I hope that is ok with all of the esteemed leaders of the alliance?”

The others looked around and simply nodded and only the other white wolves showed concern. Before anyone continues the wolf man Adimar stepped forward in front of me and addressed everyone in the council room. Behind me I noticed Akino was closing the doors behind her.

“Now then........before we begin, though I am not an individual of rank anymore, I request we sanction a gag order on everyone in this room......Regardless of what is spoken here.......nothing leaves this room!”

The room became silent at Adimar’s words. The demi humans looked around the room and not much protest was made. Though the blue haired man did speak up before there was much say in the matter.

“.....Though you are correct, you are an individual who has lost your rank so who has also lost the right to be in this room. However.....We were already planning on placing a gag order on this event. The floor is off limits for the day and the city has been moved to a location on 45. We need to make this quick.”

The blue haired man looked straight at me with a look as if looking bored with me and not wanting to continue.

“So Malfius......this is the person.....This person is the one who is going to save us and slay Balor?!”

The large eagle demi human yelled this at Malfius and looked at me while leaning back in his chair. Those behind him shook their heads and seemed agitated. The were men and women in their race that didn’t have the heads of birds. But each had feathers naturally coming out of the forearms and heads. Each stood quite tall.

“.....If you would all let me explain....I will tell you the truth about this individual today.”

“He’s human.”

Adimar stopped Malfius from continuing while he walked over and leaned on a pillar next to table and stating this fact.

“What!?”

“Impossible!!”

Loud noises irrupted in the room and every one of the demi human races that were in the room started making loud noises and looking amongst themselves then right back at me. Some look at me curiously while others look at me with disdain. Each of them however look to show the same look of shock at my sudden appearance.

“....It is not impossible......Vali here....Came from beyond this dungeon. He’s a human from beyond this place.”

With that everyone started to show the same looks of shock, all but the Eist Neko and Reiki races. Everyone continued to show looks of anger or surprise while they continued to look straight back at me. All of them....It was an unpleasant feeling and I honestly didn’t know when I was suppose to say anything.  

“Are we sure he’s human....I mean he looks like he could just be another Annunake?”

“Nope....He’s got the ears on the side.”

Akino then chimed in and the rest of the audience continued to clamor.

“Ok....now how are we sure Malfius, so if this is someone from beyond this dungeon, if he’s not some Annunake or some human whose the ancestor of some who survived in this place, what’s this puny little guy gonna do to to get us out of here?”

To this statement from the blue haired man sitting in the chair made everyone nod there heads and look back at Malfius awaiting his answer.

“This puny human took down Malthiel....”

Hearing Malfius say this no one clamored like before or made any noise, rather they just slowly turned their heads back and stared at me now with an even more strange look.....I mean I guess I know how unbelievable that could sound for those who knew Malthiel but the looks they are giving me are ones as if they heard a rodent somehow took down a lion.

With everyone looking at me I simply took out Abgrund and held it before everyone in the room. The dark aura is released from it and everyone in the rooms whole body froze and tensed up while looking at me. Though since it gives everyone around such an odd feeling when I bring it out I put it back into my inventory.

“It’s true!...”

“H..How could he take down Malthiel!!”

Many voices started clamoring together amongst themselves, all other than Malfius and the blue haired man sitting beside him. They along with the demi humans standing behind them must have already received the news of Malthiel’s passing and accepted me as the one who killed him. My eyes wonder around the room and found each of the members here were all high level, well higher than me. The three highest leveled individuals in the room however were Malfius, the man sitting beside him, and then the blue haired woman behind them. This woman who had a very dangerous look about her, was at the highest level of 357 and seemed to be much more dangerous than the man in the chair who was 334.

“If it were true his level would be much higher than Malthiel’s. But he’s not even above level 200. It’s a lie!”

One of the bird men from behind the Adler representative voiced his concern.

“Yes....I too am puzzled by this Malfius.”

The blue haired man who appears to be one of the leaders of the conference looks back at Malfius as if pressing him to answer. He blue haired man in a black uniform had two blue pointed ears above his head but kept a fairly young adults appearance. He looked older than me but it was hard to tell just how old he was. I’m not sure of how the demi humans of this world age. I’m curious as to now that I have several demi humans living in my cabin. I was planning to view their growth alongside my own but hopefully I can also learn some things from these people as well.

I smiled and looked around the confused state of the room. Hjokk looked back at me and whispered in my ear that we should be careful here. The mood does seem to be getting bad. Looking towards Adimar and Akino beside him they both appear to be looking back at me with the same angry gaze as before. I don’t know what it is about a human to them but they do not like me for some reason.

“Yes well...”

“Now, now....See everyone heres problem is they just keep thinking I’m going to help you all out of the goodness of my heart. See....I have my own demands as well for helping you all.”

I cut off Malfius and everyone in the room then turned back to myself and the purple bird resting on my shoulder.

“......What was that?”

The blue haired demi human man looked back at me now seemingly annoyed. His earlier bored behavior spiked when he heard me speak up for the first time.

Everyone else didn’t appear to enjoy my tone either so I continued.

“....Sorry I’m just not the good samaritan type. Though, I do believe that we can help one another......You guys agree to a few things for me....I help you escape this dungeon.”

I looked over at Adimar and Akino and they smirked at me then glanced back at the blue haired man sitting next to Malfius.

“AHAHAHAHA!!!!”

Everyone erupted into laughter and some snickered to each other about the statement I just made. I guess to them in a world like this level is everything. A place where your strength is literally said right above your head at all times. Not like it is outside this dungeon. Unless you have a type of skill to view it all you can see is the name of a person and hp bar when squinting above a person’s head.

To a person like me coming in claiming to do what they haven’t been able to accomplish for centuries I guess would be hard to believe for them. I don’t blame them.....though....I’m not really in the mood to play games right now. I’ve seen what the actions of this council have done. I can understand the ideas of over population on some levels. But I feel that they should all unite together in this place to get out of here. I saw and met quite a few people in the lower floors. I’ve gotten to know some of the policies this group has implemented..’...I need to show them here that I make the rules from here on out starting now!’

“Ok....How’s this human from beyond this place...”

“Vali...”

“What was that?”

“Vali...that’s my name.”

“Ok...Vali....How’s about you prove to us your someone we can put our faith in. Simply walking in here claiming to be able to go against a god! To say you’ll do what none of our kind have ever been able to accomplish for thousands of years while appearing so weak!  Let’s forget the fact your a human, something we all know to be a botched race.....You walk in here....Holding the weapon of the one we hate most!”

Slam!

His voice gradually got louder and looked back at me.  He slammed his fists on the large table. There on the hard stone table the entire edge of the table has been shattered. The entire stone table cracked throughout the surface and a large cracking sound filled the room.

“Fine....What do you have in mind.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘This.....seems unfair....’

The blue haired man I have now learned to be called Malaki proposed a 3 on 1 match between me and 3 selected members of their choosing. We left to a lower floor that resembled a humid jungle. It had a large bottomless pit we were standing over with several stone pillars that rose over the large abyss. This floor too had many bodies lining it's walls...but none on the ceilings.

“What’s wrong human!....If you can’t handle these three opponents there’s no way you’ll be able to conquer Balor’s Dungeon! Hell....If you can’t beat these three now your not even a match for Alysteir!”

Yah...I don't think I'll like Malaki. Alysteir was the blue haired girl that stood behind him. Her grim appearance gave her the look of a person who had seen many horrors in her life. Though the looks she gave me were that of a crazed person. She was however the strongest of the Eis Neko’s and was hailed as the strongest in this dungeon currently and had the largest level of anyone trapped here. In fact I can honestly understand, just the atmosphere around that person is very unpleasant. Having her gaze on me this whole time has constantly kept my hairs on my neck stand on end. Though luckily I don’t have to face her right now. If I did I would probably have to get serious and might actually not be able to take her at all if not for my death’s grip.

Though my stats are high for a human around my level, I have no idea the stat growth of someone who trains daily in a dungeon for the entirety of their lives. They are each strong clans of demi humans who have lived the better part of a millennia in this dungeon and have trained and learned to survive in the most dangerous environments Balor could throw at them. They’ve lasted the horrors, and the long fight of this dungeon. They and are amongst the remaining seven races left in this place. Currently I’m going to fight 3 of these powerful races.

One Reiki woman who is wearing the black uniform from earlier. She is the same one with white hair who didn’t match the group of Neko races who were standing beside her. Though she does look to be quite strong. Also the bird like man leader, and a white wolf man leader who also is in a beast form. Apparently the Annunake are a race that can transform into these large white legendary beasts and are said to be incredibly strong. They are according to all the other races here amongst few legendary races of demi human produced by gods. Their levels were 298, 305, and 301. These guys were nearly twice my level. If I used my Demonic awaking skill my strength and defense would rise by 200% and the rest of my stats would rise by 25%. That would put my level at around 180-190. Though my strength and defense would be at around level 300. So if I use this skill I can possibly match some of these larger demi humans if they get close. Though if things get bad I can always flash away.

My stats are high for someone around my level I’m told, I’m sure my genes have something to do with that as well. If it weren’t for the blessed skills or the inherited abilities I received.....I probably wouldn’t stand a chance in this world.

The wolf growls at me and the eagle person flexes his muscles.  The wolf I’m fighting isn’t Adimar. He and his female friend are standing alongside several other delegates that are still remaining on this floor. We left floor 52 and came to floor 11 to a weird pit like structure that covers a large area of the dungeon floor. It has many large steps and stones to jump across and use to get to the other side. The spectators or watching me standing several dozens of meters away from my 3 opponents. The girl stands in the center and keeps both her hands on her sword hilts. To her right is the wolf man and he is standing on another pillar that reaches far down into the empty chasm below. To the Reiki women’s left is the bird man with the head of an eagle. The same boss eagle who was angry from before.

Though.....I should be focusing now....‘Like I said before.....I really don’t feel like playing games with these people and I want to show who the dominate one in this relationship will be from here forward. If they continue to think they are in charge they may complicate things for me in the future. If I shut these people down quickly......I can probably get them to agree to my demands more easily later on.....Ugh...It could be difficult though. Each of them are around twice my level. Two of them are the leaders of their races delegates and one appears to be quite skilled in using a sword. This could be difficult......’....No.....I can end this quickly.’

“BEGIN!”

Someone yelled for the start of the match and the eagle man rose in the air and started flapping his wings back and forth rapidly. His wing spanned several meters in the air and when he extended them a large shadow fell over the fighting grounds. The Adler race man’s wings blocked out the sun from this floors walls and began to shine. Then small lights began to form in the shapes of feathers and began to shoot down in my direction like a machine gun firing off. Loud roars ring out as the feathers begin to crash into the stone pillars.

At that moment I feel the Reiki woman closing in on my position at an alarming speed while the Annunake man is flanking around my right side. Even though there are large gaps between some of these large pillars we are standing on they move at a tremendous speed.....If I didn’t have Loki’s gift I probably wouldn’t be able to last in a fight with these people....well.....I don’t feel like thanking him anyways.

I looked towards the steep drop below and smiled just before disappearing from the the battle arena entirely. The faces of all the onlookers including my pursuers were in awe. That’s what I thought.....The Eis Demi human girl Ecclaire from before was under the impression I just moved very quickly. They didn’t know I had the ability to travel through space.....After talking with Loki I have learned something very interesting about spatial magic.....I’m really not using it properly. To use something properly you exude the most out of it you possibly can. I haven’t been using it well at all.

I appeared over the Adler man who was flying overhead and landed a stunning blow on the back of the Adler’s head with the back of my leg.

BAM!!!!!!

“What was that?!”

“LOOk! Up there!”

The Adler race man then began to.....glide slowly back to the ground. Though he didn’t struggle he just simply descended and flew downward slowly. He was appearing to fly away from the area but the amount of damage done to him wasn't much at all. I used my spatial magic to appear back onto another pillar that was roughly where they were originally stood due to the damage from that wing attack from the Adler race. The pillars that got hit with those feathers of light were destroyed and several of the large stones that stood over the large abyss began to topple several over. Many of them were erased entirely as if they were shot with a gatling gun. I then looked back at the Adler man.

As I looked further at the Adler demi human I noticed he wasn’t flying away at all. He had been knocked unconscious by my hit to the back of his head and is now slowly descending to the dungeon floor, his wing span simply being so large it carried him and made him continue to glide over the floor. It’s kind of a funny sight to be honest.

“Pffftttt...hehe”

“YOU!.”

“...In one hit?...Fine I’ll get serious.”

The Annunake and the Reiki woman then faced back at me and then decided to take me as a serious opponent. The woman’s blades were still not drawn yet but she then slowly began to advance towards me while Annunake’s arm was a very large spear and threw it at me.

After seeing this I simply activated my spatial magic again and appeared on a pillar only a few feet in front of me but now completely out of the way of the spear that was moments from hitting me. Now only several pillars forward from where I stood the Reiki woman had now turned to her side to face me and we had now made triangle the three of us.

The large broad Annunake wolf leaped towards me and swung his claws in the direction of my neck.  The crowd could here the loud snapping of my fingers and his image then disappeared entirely.

Loki gave me a lot to think about after showing me some of the ways he uses spatial magic. I was using it all wrong. I was simply thinking I was teleporting myself from one place to another. But essentially that’s wrong, I’m not moving from one place to another at all. In fact I’m simply stepping into another space when I activate spatial magic. To put it more simply.....If I opened up a space to step through that would make me appear 100’s of feet away from where I am, and put my left foot through it. My left foot would then appear in that space while the rest of me is still in this space. It’s essentially like being in two places at once and thusly destroys the physics of my world in what I am doing.

If it was possibly for Loki to place me in a space of his choosing and even amplify the time perceived in that space by a million he could essentially keep me trapped in a box forever. This thought is truly terrifying to me so I wanted to increase my understandings of spatial magic. I figured out I don’t simply have to move myself from one space to another. I could move others to spaces I essentially want to move them too as well. If I dignify a space and that person steps into it I can make them appear in another space of my choosing.

I chose that Annunake man to reappear somewhere roughly close to the ceiling of this floor and dropped him.

“AHHH!!!!!”

I can hear his faint screams rather far away....hehe..

Now it is just me and this girl. This Reiki girl who is wearing the same clothes as all the Eis Neko’s but is clearly not from the same race as them. She still hasn’t drawn her swords yet. and is staring at me quite intently....’Ok....I’ll fight one on one. And I’d honestly like to see how I’d fair against a swordsman.

I increased my claws and tell her I’m ok with accepting her challenge. She lunges towards and when I throw a punch with my right arm her image disappeared and my legs are swept from under me. I immediately activated spatial magic a pillar away and then jump towards her. She reacts smoothly as if never losing track of my wear a bouts and jump back towards me.

She released her twin swords and flipped over top of me and spun downward in a fan like motion.

I deflected the spin with my sharp claws and and tried to deliver a shot into her stomach.

The force from me parrying her swords flipped her body and she somehow rode the spin and connected her fist that was still clutching one of her swords into my ribs.

Critical Hit!

You have been hit with Chi Divider

You have lost 200 mana

- 2,000 mana per minute will be lost if chi continues to flow out of your body

- Agility has been reduced by 15%

- Strength has been reduced by 10%

- Effectiveness of skills has been reduced by 12%

- You have received 600 damage

‘....What!?’

The force of the punch entering my ribcage sent feelings of lightning down my spinal cord and jolted my entire system. As hard and tough as my defenses were my entire body ached after this hit. This was honestly the strongest punch I have ever received in my entirely life. It....yah ....it’s way stronger than Master Fe’s. The power of that blow regardless of how strong it felt like it did all sorts of internal damage to my insides.

This person is strong. One punch to my ribs cage did all of this?

I tried to land a rapid counter but she swung around me on the narrow pillar like she was swimming through the air. She then jumped and quickly  landed a kick to my now other ribcage and a much stronger force than from what I felt the first time sent me flying.

CRACK!

BOOOOOM!

The force from hitting my right side sent me flying dozens of meters crashing on top of another stone pillar. I started to fall over and quickly grabbed the top of the pillar.

Critical Hit!

-You have received 1200 damage.

Due to the force of the blow to your body, stamina has been reduced by 15%

I should have a high defense, for a human, for anything around my level. This world even shows how my growth should stack up to another. If my defense is high enough it should be able to support a fight against these people. Maybe...I might need to use Demonic Awakening against this person.

That one punch felt like nothing I’ve ever felt in my life. I can honestly feel my energy being drained after that hit. Honestly....If I didn’t have Loki’s blessing I may have not been able to handle 3 of these people at once....No I’d be kidding myself if I thought I could.

‘Yah....I always thought but if I could have chosen out of a catalog for animals or monsters of this world I could have absorbed other than Malthiel and the other monsters. If I had the world tree essence in me whenever I absorbed any of those other monsters could have given me a completely different body actually with completely different skills....Though....If I could have chosen.....A tiger’s legs would have been one of my top choices definitely.

Tigers have tremendous leg strength. Though I acquired some traits from those horned rabbits and the defense of a boss gorilla. Tigers legs are truly incredible. Back in my world a tiger’s leg muscles are so muscular, some tigers after death still have the ability to keep their bodies standing due to their massive leg strength. They can break and sever jaws with one swing from their monstrous paws, and this women is a race of white tiger humans.

......Ok I need to get serious here.

I lift myself up and face her and she quickly advances on me.

I activate death grip to see if I can stop her in her tracks but oddly..’......I feel her life force but.......it’s weird. It’s....Like it’s too large to hold in my hands and I can’t firmly grasp it.....could....could she have a resistance to this skill?’

Death grip is still in its first stage, due to my manipulation I thought I would be able to at least stop this person from advancing but sadly I can’t. She smiles at my odd face and swings her swords back at me.

I try to activate lightning step and this somehow gives me an edge against this woman’s incredibly fast strikes. Between each strike I activate it to increase my cognitive functions and speed to match her strikes and parry her swings. I don’t think my claws can hold off for long. If I didn’t have this ability to time it just right I probably wouldn’t be able to hold this for very long.

The swords are from an odd material like my necklace and seem to produce some kind of heat to them as well along with the light that comes off of them.  If I didn’t activate lightning step at just the right time and deflect it I’m sure the strength of this sword would actually shatter my claws regardless. They are made of an incredibly strong and hot material.

The colors danced along with each strike and we continued our battle on the pillars dancing around as the spectators watched us. Wee would jump between pillar to pillar reacting to the other we each tried to create an opening to launch a counter to the other. Though we appeared to be quite evenly matched though she is slowly beginning to gain ground on me. I feel as if I am stronger and possibly faster than her but she moves in such a way it’s just very odd to track her. Honestly she doesn’t run in a way like humans from my world run. I run and smash through the ground while cutting through the air.She moves as if the wind is carrying her across the battle ground for her and she simply strikes when she tries to find an opening.

She then back flipped and jumped from pillar to pillar attacking me and the battle went on for a long time. She was truly a frightening opponent. Honestly, If I tried to fight all three of those opponents and they were at her level, I would have never lasted. If I activated Demonic Awakening maybe I could last in a fist fight with this person to reduce the damage, but the only reason I coached her into taking it to swinging her sword is because of the extent of the damages from her punches on me. I never knew monk skills like that existed in this world.

Too bad for them they didn’t know but this terrain was to my advantage.  To a person who can travel to whatever point they want at will this battle ground was to my advantage the moment we got here. I only wanted to use spatial magic and my raw strength to show them I was stronger. If I used a weapon that may have looked in favor of the weapon. If it was any other location maybe they would have had the advantage. If I didn’t have spatial magic I might have gotten to see just how strong that wolf or bird man really were. Though I may have a way of gaining an upper hand on this girl.

Thinking of this I smile while thinking of an interesting idea.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing....Simply enjoying this fight is all.....Your sword skills are phenomenal......Though.....I’m much more impressed with your hand to hand combat.”

“Yes...I was once fought as a member of the Reiki race and alongside my father....I chose another path. A path of the sword to take on those beasts.....And you think you can help us with such things as you laugh during all of this....is it because I’m female what is it?!”

“No you misunderstand. I was simply smiling because I was impressed is all. I myself want to learn the way of the sword as well.....Perhaps you can train me some day......That is after all this.”

“Ha....If....you beat me then I’ll teach you how’s that!”

After she stated this she gave me a feint and lowered her body in an instant her image changed with a green light surrounding her and her body shot forth like a dart towards me with one sword pointed towards my face.

I activated lightning step but it felt like her speed had changed somehow and as I swung down at her image that should have been slowed down began to squirm and avoid my claws and go straight toward my shoulder.

PING!

The sound of the sword crossing over my skin and scraping against the top of my bone rattles the sword and sends shivers down my spine.

She somehow increased her speed and matched my own and got her sword into my left shoulder. I’m bleeding though I only lost 4000 health from that. I guess those durable bones came in handy.

Looking up I can see the Reiki girl tilting her head looking up at me and feel the gazes of everyone else as well.

“Yo...You?..”

“I’m complicated.”

I knocked the sword out of her hand then stomped my foot onto the stone pillar while activating lord’s earth shattering smash with full power.

BOOOOM!

I feel the shockwave travel down the pillar and the smoke rises as a loud bang fills the battle grounds.

Everything started to shake and crumble as all of the pillars had began to topple over crash into one another. It honestly felt like the whole dungeon floor began to shake.

“What?”

The Reiki woman began to jump away to escape the falling pillars to find a good vantage point and I too jumped onto another pillar several meters away.

She looked back at me as if contemplating on how to finish me off in this situation and draws her sword pointing it at me. She began to jump onto each pillar that was falling onto another and lunged over large gaping pitfalls that had since crashed into the practically bottomless pit below. No floor could be seen through the dense fog below but one could fathom it was a long drop. However, to this woman she is leaping over falling debris from the ceiling as well as the large pieces of stone that created this arena.

She looked as if she were to fall but would simply jump on a falling rock and run up it. She would then jump up parts of the wall and other stone pillars and was doing it so swiftly. She moved like no one I had ever seen before and it was a strength I had never seen in another person......’....She was stronger than me.’

I may have learned to fight well, acquired stronger skills in this world, and have magic that can distort space itself,  but if I were honest with myself, I believe her to be much stronger than myself. I have to use all of these things just to fight her. And even with my incredible stats and abilities I don’t know if I could do what she is doing right now. This is a different form of strength I’m not use to and I am in awe of this woman.

‘She moves like gravity doesn’t exist to her. She runs horizontal down falling rocks and jumps between pillars to advance forward even an inch. She swims through the air and moves so swiftly it’s truly a beautiful spectacular scene I would never witness in my last life. Her white long hair flowed behind her in a fancy braid as she moved easily around the collapsing environment. She moved like no one I had ever seen before....’

BAM!

Another Rock crashed into the rock she had been running along and it jolted her forward causing her to misstep.

She was only a few pillars away from me and had jumped up to grab one of the only remaining pillars that stood still.

“Ah!..Mmmm!”

The Reiki girl struggled to pull herself up with her one hand but she was struggling.

Looking away from her I don’t really give it much thought as I feel the fight has ended. Honestly it would be a shame if this person who was going to teach me how to fight with a sword were to die so soon. Especially if she is to help us take down Balor in the future we need more people as strong as her.

I appeared on the pillar she stood on and kneeled down. After smiling down at her and looked at the long drop below I offered her my hand and asked if she wanted a lift.

She had the same bright blue eyes as Malfius had and looked to be a very stunning beauty as I had originally thought. She does have this oddly alluring feeling about her though she also gives off the impression of someone one who is hard to please.

She doesn’t smile back at me but does glance down at the long drop below....’...Ok she can’t possibly be thinking of jumping can she?’

“What....is taking my hand that bad?”

“.....Fine....I concede.”

After picking her up and lifting her onto the pillar I activated spatial magic and escaped the collapsing arena that has now been turned into an empty pit. All of the pillars have crashed and broken including the one me and the Reiki girl were just standing on.

The looks on everyone’s face was priceless. No one said anything though I didn’t get the best of looks from some of the Eis Nekos or the Annunake race. Though many of the Adler race were glaring at me I noticed that the Pixies in attendance and the a couple of the Arachnee were laughing quite historically. Apparently they thought the whole display was hilarious.

Though no one else really said anything I told Malfius I needed to leave now but as we walked to the floor elevator we discussed all of the things and terms I needed them to follow if we were going to work together....I hoped that this was a first meeting and maybe in the coming days we can communicate about what we are going to do from here on out.

Since this floor was barren and many of the demi humans were still talking amongst themselves Malfius and I continued our talk until we got back to floor 52. I and Hjokk then walked past the city gates and I activated spatial magic to appear outside of the dungeon. I’m starting to comprehend spatial magic a bit more now. Maybe soon I can learn to use it in more ways like Loki has...’...Honestly there are a lot of things I need to work on.’

Me and Hjokk continued to walk into the forest back to our cabin in the woods and the sun began to set. We got back earlier than yesterday as I didn’t want to continue leaving mom at the house with people she didn’t know for such extended periods of time. Though she has seemed to enjoy it, I feel that is wrong of me to put on her.

“....Weird day.”

‘Weird day....”

Hjokk commented about her thoughts on the day and I agreed.

“Well.....I think that went well.”

“You too huh....Yah I honestly didn’t see my day going this way when I woke up this morning.”

Honestly it did start weird. I woke up and had strangers in my house who turned out to be a princess from one of the countries whose duel I interrupted the other day. Then had to sick Fenrir on a large number of individuals from the Aldain Kingdom which I have decided is my enemy. Afterwards I went to a dungeon created by Balor that I thought to only have two races exist inside of it had actually 7 different races of demi human living there. They lived in some weird social structure between races and were originally to have 10 races though due to tragedy and apparently some deceit, they have lost quite a bit over the years. They’re histories are much more deep than I originally thought yesterday after meeting this demi humans. I’m hoping I can trust them for the future.

“.....Are you planning on trying to save everyone in that dungeon Vali? “

“No....though it would help if more people were saved.”

“I just don’t want you to simply risk your life away on every passing stranger you meet with a problem. This is a Fallen God Vali.....He is going to be much stronger than Malthiel and.....Though Loki also wants us to explore into this matter as well, I don’t fully agree with it.”

Hjokk began to show her concern but didn’t look at me as she spoke. She seemed hard pressed to find the words to guide me down the right path. She always tried to let me learn at a distance before but now she would sometimes try to give me her own opinion as well now.

“I know that.....But for what I have planned in the future, I may need the people in this dungeon. The more the merrier honestly. This plan of mine is complicated but if I can pull it off correctly we might all be able to benefit from one another in all of this.”

It was true. I had been thinking about this plan for a few days now and more pieces continue to come together. Though it’s complicated if it all works out the rewards will be just what I’m looking for.

“Don’t worry. We’re not fighting any fallen god or going to war with any kingdom just yet. I’m just gaining information for now.”

“Well....the coming days will sure to be interesting.”

As we continued back to the cabin we continued to talk more and even though Hjokk showed to have some concern over this dungeon she eventually gave up. We then discussed what we thought everyone was doing back at the cabin as we were walking back. She was right, there were a lot of things to do in the coming weeks if my plans are to succeed here, I have a meeting in a few days with the King of Asher....I’ll know more then.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ari’s  POV

‘Life sure has been good to me lately. ‘

“Oh good job! Ari...Your doing it!”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Vali....That’s the name of the masked man who saved me.

It feels like....I’m finally experiencing  life. Though maybe all this has just been a dream.  I remember I use to have dreams of flying, or running through a forest only to wake up later. Maybe I really am just stuck back in that...

‘No....all the experiences I’ve had the warmth I’ve felt. I remember....I remember being cold. This is real.’

For the first time since my legs stopped working I was taking my first steps and Elyria was cheering me on. She would do this with me everyday actually...‘She’s also been so amazing.’

No one ever really payed attention to me like this before. Even him...He always seemed so interested in the things I have to say and would always hold me so close to him.....’...Mm...Vali’s honestly like a good dream.’

He would even feed me the first few days we met....He was always so gentle. It was the first time someone had treated me so.....important, and those delicious tastes uh....Surely I couldn’t dream that up.

“Woh.”

I lost my balance and fell over.

Woosh!

Something appeared right below me and hoisted me back up. It was Vali’s pet wolf Fenrir. I gripped onto his soft fur with my hands to support myself.

“Thanks Fenrir”

He had such soft fur, he always let me pet him and I had never felt something so nice. I’ve felt honestly so many things these past few days. My face is even better again.

‘I haven’t even told him thank you yet.....I mean it happened so fast, and the way he reacted when he healed me was just. I don’t even know how I could possibly pay him back either. He’s a very kind human.'

“Hey how’s everyone’s day been?”

He’s home....

I don’t know why by my heart started racing back and forth and I tried to run to him. I wanted to greet him upon entering his home.

Bam!

I fell. I guess I can’t quite run yet.

“Hey... I thought I told you not to exert yourself so much. Your body is going through a recovery period and....Oh well whatever”

As he picked him up he just smiled and stopped talking. I don’t know why....oh....I think my tail is hitting him again. My tail does that a lot but I can’t seem to control it. I forgot I even had one when I was in that.....You know it’s strange, I remember that I came from a bad place, just......can’t seem to remember what it all looked like.

Everything before that day Vali saved me and those other demi humans....is kind of a blur. It’s like this is my real life and all that other stuff before was the bad dream. Though everything from my past is just, it's not that I've forgotten, just.....it's hard to remember.

I remember being in a cage. I must have been in there for a long time......but now I can’t even seem to remember what it looked like for some reason. Like it was all just a nightmare, I can’t seem to remember it all.

‘It’s just hard to remember anything from my past for some reason now. I use to get bad dreams sometimes too, even the first couple nights after I was saved. But...not really anymore.  I feel bad that I lied to Vali that I was. I just wanted to wait up till he got home. I hope he doesn't get mad.....I’m sure I came from something bad, it’s just hard to remember that place now.....There’s just....so many new and exciting things to think about now.’

“Welcome home.”

As I greeted and smiled up at him he brushed my head with his other hand and the warmth from his palm was transmitted to the top of my head. He has such a calming touch.

“Well Vali, You just missed it.....Ari took her first steps just a bit a go.”

“What?!....I missed it....Hey look at you, your gonna be running in no time.”

He seemed genuinely happy for me. I mean I believe he is. He’s the man who saved my life and took me in when I was going to become food for monsters. Being a human has nothing to do with any of it.

Vali he’s truly a good dream in a nightmare of a world. Looking up at him he’s talking to Elyria about Noah. Earlier he was doing some strange exercises too hard with those odd stones on his arms and legs and was running and at some point passed out. Lily found him a few hours later and he’s been asleep in bed ever since. Though Elyria did cook him some food and left it for him when he wakes up. It’s fun getting to cook with Elyria or him. He seems to enjoy it to so, I enjoy it.  Lilly seems to enjoy cooking and playing with Elyria also. Elyria’s a great wizard! No...that’s wrong she’s a high...shama...

‘Mmm....he always smells so good.’

I even picked up a skill since I’ve been with him in his home.

Scent Tracking

After always being so close with him and talking for so long in his arms. The scent of his scarf his mother made him around his neck and his own, after I learned to distinguish the two I somehow got a skill.

‘But I somehow find his scent more pleasant....It’s just so.....warm.’

He laughed after seeing Noah’s state and his mother seemed to be a bit frustrated. They argued for a bit but I honestly feel like when he’s here it’s just me and him in the world. Elyria, Lily and Noah are great.........I  just always feel so swept away by this man.

He looked at me and commented on the pretty clothes that Elyria had made for me and talked with her for a bit. It was true Elyria made these clothes her self and are made from such a strange material. It's so stretchy but soft. I've never wore something so pretty before.

I just kept looking back up at him while he talked with Elyria.

‘Mm...life has been good to me.’

End of Chapter!

Description Page

Races Confirmed:

Human

Holds highest population in the world currently. Have many kingdoms and nations and are currently trying to expand to other continents. The central continent is where 4 great empires rule over the majority of the kingdoms and land there. Each empire was built by strong heroes and some blessed individuals that have shaped the entire continent. Kingdoms and guilds constantly fight for supremacy and to become the strongest by taking on unconquerable dungeons or fulfilling great quests that make a name for themselves in this large world.

Elf

Race that is united under one elven queen in the eastern continent. Are a race that is said to not be a physical race but one that is more of a spiritual race. Said to live to almost be eternal. Very adept in magic and receive large benefits from earth spirits in the sacred forest where the majority of them live. Due to their strength in magic as well as warfare they haven’t yielded the eastern continent yet fully to the humans, though for unknown reasons a majority have holed themselves away from other races for a long time.

Dwarf

Small humanoid like race that are adept in handcraft and blacksmith related work. Though small they have incredible strength. Large number of their population live under the rule of several dwarven kings in the western continent living deep within the mountains. Due to the strict environment surrounding the mountains, not many other races come into contact with them for a long time.

Demon:

Known to be very strong and fierce. Though there is constant infighting between family clans and households, they stand united against other races and have kept the northern continent unsettled for the human population for centuries. Said to have many demon kings and stand united under a demon emperor and his demon lord. Knowledge from Loki depicts that many of the beings the demons worship as Gods are the same beings that fought in the war between the Gods centuries ago.

Beast Man Species: Species much like Demi-humans but show their traits much more than demi-humans do.

Sub Species:

Aker Race: Race of humanoid lion beast man species. Very large and fearsome. Currently the Beast King in the southern Continent is ran by a member of this race, though not much is known about them at all.

Arachnee Race: They are entirely female race and must mate with males from other races for them to survive. They have the lower form of a spider and the upper form of a human female. Though some show their traits more than others. Very strong and adept in close quarters combat and can see quite easily in the dark.

Demi-Human:  Hold second highest population next to humans. Has very many different subsets of their species but are still considered different than the beast man species as they are for the most part humanoid. Due to the large number of differences and social orders between them, they are not united as a whole and were crumbled by the united forces of the human race in the eastern continent.

Sub Set Species Confirmed:

Neko Race:

Catlike race with many different kinds of different lineages. All lineages however have great eye sight and are said to actually adopt more catlike traits than human traits.

Reiki Race:

White Tiger Race, not much is known about them currently.

Annunake Race:

White Wolf Race, One of the few legendary races of Demi-Human said to be created by a God wolf long ago.

Adler Race:

Humanoid Bird-like race. Has feathers coming out of hair and head looking similar to a war chief headdress. Has sharp talons and large wings giving them the ability of flight.

Elkia Race"

Deer like demi-human race known to be highly intelligent and majestic. They are noticed by their large white antlers that come out of the of their heads and give off a faint light. They are known to be adept in healing, and barrier/light magic.

Pixie Race:

Short  demi human race that resemble thin hobbits with fairy like wings on their backs and pointed ears. Known to be quite mischievous and are adept in illusion magic, though are not very strong physically.

Jiji Race:

Race of small demi humans. Though their heads and faces are covered in white or brown fur, they have the torso and appendages of a small human. The hair is so bushy it is hard to distinguish a face as it looks like they have bushy facial hair as well. Their feet are quite big for their body and have patches of fur on their hands and feet. Though they are small and not powerful physically as a race, they are very good with their hands and enjoy making things.

-Rufian Race: doglike race of demi human. Usually not known to be very adept in magic but naturally have a great sense of smell and tracking abilities.

-Fuchs Race: fox like demi human race. Very adept in elemental magic and have their own social order compared to other demi human species. Not much is known about them as they mostly are a race that stays to themselves in their villages amongst their own kind.