Entering the 28th floor felt like stepping into a completely different time period. Jungles full of countless kinds of trees stretched as far as the eyes could see. Vitality-filled mountain ranges towered over everything. On the horizon, a few pillar-like mountains could barely be spotted, dotted across the landscape.
Even though the nearest lakes, rivers and swampy areas were still quite a distance away, the air was really humid. While it felt extremely fresh, it also made one instinctively become uncomfortable. Most people didn’t like to sweat a lot, after all.
A fake sky could be seen overhead, just like back on the 18th floor. This time, however, the ceiling was at a height of multiple kilometers, so it couldn’t be reached by the vast majority of adventurers that came here to explore.
Seven, or rather, eight, completely new monster species inhabited this floor and the rest of this thematic zone. Finally, Isaac’s opponents had reached Level 3, and he could reliably amass stat points again.
The weakest of them all didn’t provide him with much, though, only one or two every few kills. Armarosauruses were twenty meters long, three headed, yellow-scaled creatures that had spikes growing all over their bodies. They had club-like tails, which they used in just the way that most people would expect: to swing and hit their opponents. Because they had very high Endurance, which could reach up to I-50 / 4250, their deathly ‘clubs’ were far more durable than what most adventurers’ gear, or their bodies, could withstand. Aside from that, they attacked by biting and ramming their opponents. Thankfully, they had no extraordinary abilities. That, coupled with the fact that their Agility was relatively low, made it possible to slay them relatively easily - if one had a weapon that could damage them, that is. Else, the fight would become far more dangerous, as only their joint areas had less sturdy scales.
The next strongest were the Bloodsauruses, which Isaac felt a slight bit of appreciation for because he actually wore armour made from their leather. Just like his gambeson and pants, these dinosaur monsters were the colour of dried blood. Even though the leather was mostly covered in scales, it was quite hard to notice this at all, as their colour hue was the same. They could lift themselves up on their hind legs, which made them reach a height of five meters and enabled them to attack with their front legs as if they were using arms of some kind.
Contrary to what might be expected, they actually turned very clumsy in that state, and they only entered it when all else failed, in an attempt to scare off their opponents. Their actual trump card was a sort of ‘self buff’. By accelerating their blood flow, they could improve their Agility and become far more dangerous opponents. They could also use their blood to reinforce the toughness of their scales and the leather underneath. If one slew them before they had a chance to use these moves, then they were easy targets. In any other case, one had to prepare for a tough fight, as most of the Bloodsauruses’ stats could reach up to H-100 / 4450.
Because he had finally encountered monsters that surpassed his base stats again, Isaac felt confident that he could actually max his stats on this floor. It wouldn’t take too long until he could finally progress again!
Every now and then, packs of Pterofoveras harassed anyone who entered this floor. They were winged, pterodactyl-like creatures that were about three meters long. They had very weak bodies, but excelled at aerial maneuvers and were extremely fast. As they attacked from the safety of the skies, it was hard for most adventurers to retaliate. After all, not too many of them were mages, archers or had mastered some kind of long-range attacks. Although it was hard to intercept them during the times when they swooped down, as their Agility could reach up to H-150 / 4650, if they were caught, then their grey-red scales could barely resist any attacks at all.
Needless to say, as Isaac was capable of fighting the flying menaces even when they were still far from the ground by using his Magic, he could easily research them. After he was done, he used his bow to shoot them down whenever he saw them, giving these annoying critters no chances at all.
Castorasauruses were next on the list… and they actually stumped Isaac a little. From the latter half of the name, he had expected something more impressive… but it turned out that they were literally just two headed, scaled beavers. Sure, they were a little bigger than usual, at nearly seven meters in height, but they were disappointing nonetheless. Besides having a second head, their attack patterns were identical to those that a regular, rabid beaver would make use of, so they felt quite boring to face. There was one moderately interesting detail about them, however. Just like their regular animal versions, they built dams down here in the various rivers and lakes, and the sizes of these constructions could even sometimes rival those of the biggest man-made dams from Isaac’s old world. For regular adventurers, it wouldn’t be wise to underestimate these monsters, as both their Strength and Endurance could reach up to G-200 / 4850.
Even stronger were the Champsuryas, which were… actually quite special. They were mostly scaled, humanoid monsters. But contrary to all the other species of that kind up until now, they actually had both male and female individuals amongst their ranks. Their lower bodies were clad in green-greyish crocodilian scales, which were a bit reminiscent of pants, and they had crocodile tails. The majority of their arms and their backs were covered in the aforementioned scales as well, while their feet and hands looked similar to draconian claws.
They all had a singular horn on their heads, which they actually didn’t use for physical attacks at all. Instead, they were capable of channelling an amount of mana in there to blind their enemies with a piercing light, basically robbing them of their sight. Sadly for them, this ability was pretty much useless against Isaac, as he could simply close his eyes ahead of time and use his Eyes of Hermes to perceive his surroundings. Because the light didn’t assault his optic nerves when he did this, he didn’t even have to suffer through any discomfort.
Another one of the Champsuryas’ abilities was that they had very rudimentary control over a fire enchant type Magic, which they could imbue their claws with. Even though most of their stats were quite low, because they could appear in groups of up to 25 and almost all had Magic stats reaching G-250 / 5050, they were very dangerous to face - at least without specially-made protective goggles, which sold quite well on the surface.
It was controversial whether or not the next species, the Treants, actually were a singular one, or should be broken up into hundreds of different ones, to better prepare adventurers for what they were about to face. Almost all of the ancient or alien-looking plants and trees in the Green Wasteland could potentially be one. The only way to know for sure was to search for somewhat human-like faces somewhere on their bodies, which were the sole giveaway.
Depending on the specific plant, their abilities ranged from shooting vines or poisonous leaves, controlling their roots to attack from underground or sheer physical might backed by their extraordinarily sturdy bodies, to control over the surrounding swamps. The last one was especially irritating, as they could make enemies that were currently wading through it stuck there, by hardening the ground that they had just sunken into slightly. If one didn’t use a lot of strength, it was quite difficult to escape these traps.
Treants were all stationary and not capable of moving from the spots that they were rooted in, but they could move the parts of themselves that weren’t hidden underneath the ground. During expeditions, they were actually the first victims of the approaching dinosaur monster tides, as they just couldn’t get out of the way, no matter what. Honestly, they were quite tragic existences. Partially due to these unfortunate circumstances, not all of their variations had been discovered yet, so Isaac mentally made a note of this - on his path to complete exploration of the dungeon, he would definitely take a look at them all.
Although the Treants’ stat distributions varied, they all had something in common, which was that they could reach up to F-300 / 5250. Amusingly enough, just like most regular trees, all known kinds were extremely weak to fire, but if one didn’t have it at hand, then it was best to simply inflict enough wounds on their bodies to make them shed a lot of sap, leading to them dying from blood loss.
Lastly, there were the Illusory Termites, and their queen, which could be counted as two different monster species, theoretically. Still, one of them did give birth to the other, so it was a highly controversial topic amongst academics.
Just like the Killer Ants from the dungeon’s Upper Floors, they were capable of spreading pheromones, which allowed them to communicate with each other and to assemble quickly, should there be a need to. They were only around two meters long and were able to blend into the environment just like chameleons, even a bit better than that. Only while they were on the move could most people detect them, but more often than not, they were already surrounded by hundreds of them at that point. Their carapaces were actually really weak, but their mandibles were extremely strong and sharp, because their Strength could reach up to F-350 / 5450.
As they were just showcasing their lackluster stealth abilities in front of an expert, Isaac had no problem at all with detecting them, but most who came here would have to either stay on their guard all the time, or to make use of special methods. An example would be scattering a certain kind of powder in the surrounding air to make the termites perfectly visible.
Those towering, pillar-like mountains all over this floor? That was their work, as those were their mounds. Any adventurer that entered those before they had surpassed Level 3 didn’t survive, unless they had help from stronger companions. The reason for this was obvious - there were tens of thousands of termites in there, protecting their queen at all times.
Contrary to what might be expected, the Illusory Termite Queen was extremely weak and easy to deal with on its own. It couldn’t move and its only ability was to spawn more of its children. Strangely enough, it only did so once its tribe’s numbers got reduced, then it would give birth to tens of them per minute, until that previously stable population had been reached again. If the queen got slain, then the tribe was fated to go extinct, which was deeply ingrained in the instincts of these termites, even the ones who mindlessly roamed the dungeon. While the queen’s Strength and Endurance both reached F-350 / 5450, it didn’t make use of them in the traditional way, as both were simply channeled into its reproductive abilities, which were extremely potent as a result. Well, because of that, even a kid without a Falna could potentially kill the queen, should it be all alone.
Needless to say, after Isaac had finished his research on the regular termites, he had imposed on a few of the mound-like homes of their kind, to take a closer look at the tribes’ queens. Even though he was surrounded on all sides by the crawling termites, he wasn’t in any danger, and it didn’t take long for him to kill the last needed Illusory Termite Queen test subject.
As he was in the middle of cleaning up the surrounding insects, he finally got a system notification that he had yearned for for a long time now.
Post-update Dexterity stat has reached the maximum. No further Dexterity-related excelia can be gained until your Level increases.
Thankfully, as his stats had always been more or less even, it only took a few more kills until all of the other stats followed suit.
All stats have reached the post-update maximum.
Quest ‘Reach the Level 2 stat limit.’ completed. 2000 AP rewarded.
With a relieved smile on his face, Isaac asked his two lovely bodyguards to, well, actually do their job for a bit - to protect him, just in case. After they arrived at his side, he didn’t hesitate any longer, and both updated his Status to the Level 2 maximum and also ranked himself up to Level 3 in one go. When he was presented with the various Development Abilities that he could choose from, he directly selected ‘Hunter’ and didn’t even glance at the others.
Name:
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Isaac Blackshaw
Familia:
Loki Familia
Affiliation:
None
Race:
God
Divinity:
None
Arcanum:
None
Level:
2 -> 3
Age:
Unable to measure
Charisma:
34
Divine Energy:
8540 -> 13546
Stats
Strength:
SS-1014 -> SSS-1500 -> I-0 (6750 x 2.0028)
Endurance:
S-999 -> SSS-1500 -> I-0 (6750 x 2.0028)
Dexterity:
SS-1022 -> SSS-1500 -> I-0 (6750 x 2.0028)
Agility:
SS-1013 -> SSS-1500 -> I-0 (6750 x 2.0028)
Magic:
SS-1007 -> SSS-1500 -> I-0 (6750 x 2.0028)
Magic
Anemoi Steps
Eyes of Hermes
Skills
Divine Being
Reverential Resonance
Development Abilities
Huntsman
F
Mana Cultivation - Foundation Establishment
G
Hunter
I
Can be chosen from when ranking up: Archer, Mage, Spirit Healing, Swordsman
Hunter (I): When battling a monster one has already gained excelia from previously - 4% increase in all stats, 4% increase in excelia gained.
From one moment to the next, the air Isaac gave off changed drastically, as his stats increased by more than fifty percent. Instead of undergoing a gradual process, his body changed so rapidly that even he found it challenging to keep track of everything. Every single cell of his underwent slight changes, which basically gave him an all-round upgrade. In his mental layer, thousands of new drops of mana appeared, seemingly out of thin air. The increase in his Divine Energy almost led to it growing out of control and leaking outside of his body, but thankfully, he was able to rein it in quickly enough.
After thoroughly inspecting his improved body and finding nothing worrisome or unexpected about it, he stretched a few times and had already regained full control over it. While other people would usually take at least a few hours or even multiple days to adjust, he could do so in a matter of seconds - arguably, that could be called his most ‘unfair’ quality of all. Little would anyone care about the effort it had taken for him to achieve this, as it was always much easier to bemoan other’s success, rather than to try to replicate it..
Although only a short amount of time had passed, the two girls had already wiped out the surrounding monsters and were eyeing him curiously. Finally, a surprised gasp escaped Tiona’s mouth.
“You’re already Level 3!?”
Not bothering to hide it, Isaac nodded, a genuinely satisfied smirk on his lips.
“Yeah, and it took me long enough.”
For a moment, even Tiona felt like punching him, as his words made all other people sound incompetent in comparison. Took him long enough? He had pretty much blazed his way to this point in a matter of weeks, while others had taken months upon months, or even years to make it there!
Ultimately, the chipper Amazoness shook her head helplessly and sighed. Even though his words had indeed sounded arrogant, he was entitled to saying such things. No matter what, he was superior to everyone else she knew in combat skills - he was a true ‘monster’. And because he hadn’t done anything for many weeks, it was understandable for him to feel like he had just been wasting away in the meantime, even though his results were still leagues ahead of the rest of the world.
After sizing him up a little more, Tiona couldn’t help but make another observation.
“From the way you move, you remind me of some of the stronger Level 4’s…”
In response, Isaac simply shrugged.
“If they had actually maxed out their stats before advancing, then the difference wouldn’t be so massive.”
Not bothering to converse for any longer, he walked off towards the nearest horde of Illusory Termites and began an even faster and more ruthless slaughter than before. He didn’t bother wiping them out, he only charged outside of their nest, to continue his path further down the dungeon. Now that he had researched all monsters that inhabited this floor, he didn’t bother wasting any more time.
‘Maxing out stats, huh? I guess I should hold back on ranking up next time, I don’t want to fall behind too much…’
While she felt somewhat sad about him catching up to her this rapidly, Tiona also felt a far greater motivation than ever before as a result. She was now certain that Isaac would surpass even Level 6’s like her very quickly, so a fiery ambition was lit in her heart. Him reaching further heights wasn’t a bad thing, as he could lead them to deeper floors of the dungeon, enabling them to finally have a chance to fight various monsters that could grant them with significant amounts of excelia again!
Although she would just be chasing after his shadow, she would also rapidly grow stronger this way, to the point where even the most deep-rooted of her worries wouldn’t be a big problem to deal with anymore. Tiona wasn’t an idiot, even though her thoughts were quite often a bit simple. Even she could clearly see the glorious future ahead of her, and she was excited to step foot on that path.
The observing Ais chuckled to herself when she saw how fired up her old friend had become. A black dragon’s shadow momentarily flashed past her eyes, causing her to grip the sheath of her sword tightly, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
‘It won’t be long… until he... no, until we change everything.’
-----
As the 29th floor was a safety point and he had already stayed there with the expedition party before, Isaac quickly searched for a staircase leading further down and left the floor as soon as he could. He would have to come back here in the future, but because he was capable of teleportation, that wouldn’t pose a problem. The 30th and 31st floors didn’t sport any new monster species and only slightly changing vistas, so as soon as the three came across a way down, they would take it. Due to how fast they moved, by the time that they arrived on the 32nd floor, it was only 9:30 a.m.
If Isaac hadn’t always thoroughly researched all new monsters that he came across, then he would have only gotten faster in exploring the dungeon the stronger that he got. But even with this added timesink, he still managed to reduce the time that it took for him to traverse each floor little by little.
As the Loki Familia had slain Tastrophanus, the Monster Rex of the 32nd floor, it was pretty much as safe as it could possibly be - for Isaac, at least. Because he had just advanced in Level, however, sadly, none of the new monster species here gave him any stat points, as they were simply too weak. For the record, they were still quite a bit stronger than the ones on the previous floors, though.
The most numerous of the additions were the Arpaktikosauruses, which were about one and a half meters tall and looked raptor-like. They had dark-green, sometimes even slightly black scales and moved extremely fast. Aside from their speed, their pack-hunting skills were superb as well, enabling them to perform dangerous maneuvers that could easily outplay most inexperienced parties due to the confusion that they caused. It was actually easier to fight them when one was travelling alone, as that ability wouldn’t be as potent then. While most of their stats were relatively high, their pride was their Agility, which could reach up to E-400 / 5650. As they always roamed around in groups, most adventurers usually attempted to avoid them. Last but not least, the raptors’ claws and teeth were highly poisonous.
Intermixed with Treants, which could already be found on the previous floors, on the 32nd floor, Grand Treants also started to appear. They were just a larger, more powerful version of their inferior brethren and could affect a more expansive area, as their roots had grown further. It was unknown whether or not Treants could become Grand Treants should they grow old enough, as such an occurrence hadn’t been observed in the dungeon, at least. Out in the wild, however, it might actually be the case. No matter which stats the various Grand Treants excelled at, they couldn’t exceed E-450 / 5850.
Easily the most difficult monsters to deal with here, aside from the Monster Rex, were the Eochias. In essence, they were just extremely huge snakes. They sported brown-white scales, very tiny bumps akin to horns on their heads and were at least fifty meters long. They weren’t poisonous, but they didn’t need to be, as they could simply crush all opposition with their bodies - all of their stats, aside from Magic, reached up to D-550 / 6250. In all honesty, they had no real weaknesses… well, aside from their intestines. Sometimes, when an adventurer happened to be swallowed alive and whole, they managed to slay them while in their stomachs. Aside from this suicidal approach, the only way to kill them was to overpower them, plain and simple.
Even though Isaac would have aimed to reach even deeper floors today, luck wasn’t on his side. There was one other, really rare monster species on this floor, the Arachne. It had the upper body of a human woman and the lower body of a gigantic, grotesque spider. Just like most humanoid monsters, Arachnes didn’t look very appealing to the eyes, aside from certain assets. Their huge fangs and compound eyes made them even harder to appreciate. Aside from regular physical attacks, the spider women could also spit highly acidic liquids, which could easily melt flesh, and even some armour. Their stats could reach up to D-500 / 6050.
Because they were so exceedingly rare, Isaac had to spend multiple hours searching for as many as he needed to finish his research. When the last of the primarily disgusting-looking monsters turned to dust at his feet, it was already close to 2 p.m.. As he had made plans to teach his students and subordinates every day at 3 p.m., he could only reluctantly search for a staircase leading to the 33rd floor before slaying as many monsters as he could while he still had the time.
Level 3 monsters posed no challenge to him whatsoever when he didn’t overly restrain himself, and now that he had vastly increased his stats, his monster extermination speed had increased, by a lot. But even while he was speeding past the landscape like a ghost, he still made sure to pick up all the magic stones and Drop Items, leaving not even a scrap behind.
By the time that he left the dungeon, the day’s results were truly extraordinary, completely incomparable to any days prior to this one. His Level 2 monster slaying quest had made it to 11,409/12,000, and had netted him 1100 AP. The Level 3 one was the one that had seen the most mind-blowing change, however, as it had already almost caught up to the Level 2 one! From a measly 3/1,000, it had increased until it hit 10,764/11,000 and had earned him a total of 5,500 AP. And that was although he had spent so much time on research….
In less than a day, he had even unlocked this Level’s ‘Hunter’-series Development Ability, ‘Experienced Hunter’. He could choose it the next time he ranked up. Slowly but surely, one of Isaac’s earlier plans started to bear fruit. His excelia gain would only snowball further in the future, as all of these were additive. As for the temporary, additional stats? They were just a nice bonus.
Experienced Hunter (I): When battling a monster one has already gained excelia from previously - 6% increase in all stats, 6% increase in excelia gained.
The requirement to unlock it, apparently, had been to slay 10,000 Level 3 monsters in a single day… and he had ‘accidentally picked it up’. As the number of people who had managed to get it before was extremely small, and currently, not a single known living adventurer possessed it, it showed just how difficult it was to obtain the qualifications. Well, with a bug-like existence like Isaac around, all of those records were meant to be broken anyway...