It's been several years since I acquired the Spatial Movement skill, and I have spent these years farming the fourth floor. I capped out my level at 200 several months in, but my reasoning for staying so long was to farm souls for my tails. There are several of those rooms with the Hellhounds that pour out of lava falls. In the rooms toward the boss room, there are literally thousands of the beasts that spawn at a time.
Oh, another thing I discovered with the Spatial Movement skill, kind of an exploit really. When I leave the Fourth Floor to the second, as soon as I return, I noticed that everything on the Fourth Floor had respawned. So as soon as I clear the floor, I can teleport out and immediately come back and the whole damn floor has respawned. I no longer have to wait hours for monsters to respawn. This made farming FAR more efficient. Plus, it had the added bonus of allowing me to farm tons of monsters in a short amount of time and freeing up more time for exploring and relaxing.
During my free time I worked on acquiring the spells and skills I noted from the skills list of monsters and bosses. I even played around and mixed skills and magic to come up with some pretty amazing skills. I have a wind blade which is really cool. Whenever I slice with my blade, a massive blade of compressed air is thrown out and it just cuts down anything in its path. I have flame armor, lightning armor, and wind armor. I even developed an auto heal skill by applying healing magic to my armor. It acts more like a heal over time spell.
I have also gathered a crapload of gear and accessories, as well as more mana stones that you would think even possible. It wasn’t long before the bags I do have filled completely. I farmed several more bags from the Dire Wolves on the second floor, but those filled up as well. Back in the Grotto Arena I call home; I have about a dozen bags completely filled with mana stones and gear. I even built several racks from the trees on the second floor, where I can put the gear, I find as I have nowhere else to put it.
I'm about 14 years old at this time, I think, as I have no actual perception of time down here, save for one new way, I guess. I'm assuming I am around 14 years old as I'm, well... filling out, if you get what I mean. I am taller than I was, though my armor seems to grow with me as it still feels like a perfect fit. I also have started to develop, well, boobs. I'm not even going to get started on the feminine hygiene bullshit I now experience, I assume monthly. That has been that one thing that I have been using to tell the passage of time down here.
Well, aside from the puberty bullshit and it is bullshit because I'm literally going through it a second fucking time, when technically I wasn't even finished with my first encounter with puberty… I'm getting sidetracked again. Fucking hormones! At least I don’t have acne this time. Healing magic works MUCH better than Clearasil!
Anyway, the past several years have resulted in amazing results. I have unlocked 8 tails thus far. I have been grinding out the ninth tail for the past year, but it's going to take literally 8 times as many enemies as it took to get my 8th tail. I tried, but I'm just done with this place, so it's time to move on. After clearing out the final room before the boss room, I turn and stand before the massive extremely ornate door to the boss.
The door to the boss room looks like something straight out of Dante's Inferno. It's like a door to actual hell, with demonic figures adorning it. I do not like the looks of it one bit. None of the other doors to boss rooms looked anything like this. As I approach the door, it creaks open as though it was expecting me. Nope, I don't like this one bit! I hesitantly proceed through the door and into the boss room.
The boss room is a massive circular room with a lava moat on the edge. Beyond that the wall only rises about 3-4 meters then beyond that are spectator areas like in a coliseum. The spectator areas are filled with all sorts of creatures. There are demons of all sizes and shapes, and even monsters from other floors of the labyrinth. I have literally stepped into Hell's arena!
"What the fuck is this!" I say in a hushed whisper as I take in the sight before me.
A large ornate iron gate on the opposite side of the entrance to the boss room slides open and out walks my opponent. I lets out an exasperated sigh as I see what walks out. It’s a massive beast with 3 heads, another beast of mythology that I immediately recognize.
[https://i.imgur.com/78lwaK8.png]
"Cerberus?! You have got to be kidding me! Why the fuck would this thing be here?! How much Earth Mythology is in this place?! WHY is it in this world?!" I practically scream seeing more bullshit from my planet's mythology.
I guess I should be thankful that the Devil himself isn't here, considering how much shit I killed on this floor. That seems to piss off Gods around here. I don't really feel like I would want to fight with Satan, or Hades, or whatever mythical guardian of Hell or the underworld is in this place. Well, technically Cerberus IS the guardian of the underworld, but whatever. Better than its master, right?!
“Fuck it. If the Devil wants to come play, I will kill him too!”
This thing is seriously intimidating though. It's standing a good 4 meters tall, and each head is a good meter in size by themselves. It looks like a cross between a pit bull, Rottweiler, and those demonic hellhounds I spent the past few years farming. Each head has eyes that are yellow and seem to be burning as flames are coming off of them. As with the rest of the shit on this floor, its body is covered in what looks like rivers of lava coursing around its body. Each head sports a black collar with intimidating spikes, several of which are adorned with pierced skulls of various creatures. The teeth are long and blackish; its drool is basically lava.
"Well, let's get this over with." I say with exacerbation at having to fight another dog from hell.
I unsheathe my Masamune and take my fighting stance and suddenly several of the creatures in the spectator section, jump onto the platform to join the fight. Apparently in this arena the spectators are free to join in the fight.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
"Oh, come on! Seriously?!" I say seeing a dozen Demons jump into the arena.
"Fine, if you all wish to die, I'll send you back to Hell!" I mentally facepalm after I say that.
Well, I guess we are already there I guess, so that was rather stupid. I don't wait any longer and I begin my attack, first slicing up all the demons and whatnot that jumped into the arena. Having 8 tails now is making this a menial task as I am almost twice as powerful as I was before. I'm effortlessly cutting down my foes, which include Daemons that can use the Spatial Mobility skill.
I have reached a level of speed that even the Spatial Movement skill can't escape me. I slice them down as soon as they appear. More often than not, I slice them before they even vanish, and I laugh as they reappear in pieces somewhere else.
The whole time I'm doing this, the stupid 3 headed dog is just standing there drooling lava on the floor. It hasn't even tried to attack me yet. As I cut down the idiots interrupting our battle, more decide to join the fray. Trolls, Wolfs, Hellhounds, and even those massive Ogres from the third floor hop into the arena as I cut down those that came before them. Whenever those monstrosities jump in, the shock from their landing sends everything launching comically into the air, including Cerberus.
It's a wholesale slaughter in the arena. Body parts litter the arena floor, some already being absorbed by the dungeon as others, newly severed, fall beside them. Suddenly, a loud roar erupts from all three heads of Cerberus. All the creatures in the arena suddenly move backward to get out of the center of the arena. I look up and see a massive black rod like thing falling from the sky out of a massive flaming black magic circle.
The massive pillar impacts the arena floor dead center, the shockwave of the impact knocking over everything on the platform. I look in horror as I stare at the massive black pillar. It looks like it is made of tar and there are ghastly “things” stuck in it. They are reaching out with emaciated and cachectic arms and hands. Their heads, devoid of eyes with expressions of unspeakable pain, are moaning loudly, sounding like souls who have experienced an eternity of suffering.
“What in the fuck is…” I barely get out as all hell literally breaks loose.
The creatures stuck in the pillar being grabbing everything in reach, their arms extending cartoonishly in order to grab whatever is in front of them. The pillar of suffering doesn’t seem to care what it grabs as it is grabbing Trolls, Daemons, and Goblins. Anything in its way is snatched up by death’s arms. My speed allows me to dodge some of the arms grabbing for me, but there are a lot more than I can handle. Several times I toss monsters toward the pillar, basically using them as shields from the arms reaching toward me.
Anything grabbed by the ghastly pillar is pulled in, stuck into the tar like surface, and the creatures begin feasting on the unfortunate victims. Once consumed, their corpses are absorbed by the pillar to be added to the collection of eternal suffering that is writhing on its surface. The cries and moans of the newly added lend their voices to the choir of pain.
Finally, the Pillar lets out a haunting roar and another flaming black circle appears below it. The Pillar begins to sink into the circle, dragging with it the souls of its victims, I assume to the actual underworld. I let out a sign of relief seeing that embodiment of nightmares finally go away.
I turn to Cerberus and immediately launch my attack on the beast as I really don’t want to see it summon that bullshit again. My blade easily slices up its hide, thick magma pouring from the lacerations. My attack doesn’t take long, but it is cut short as the cuts I make begin healing themselves as soon as they are made.
“I guess that is the Rapid Regeneration skill you have.”
I am not here for a long-drawn-out fight, so I launch at the center head and slice it in half vertically. The other two heads move in to chomp me and I use my Spatial Movement to immediately appear at the left side of the beast. I launch hard off the floor heading straight to the neck of the left head. In an instant I make one slice and skid to the stop to the monster’s right side. I look back as all three heads fall to the floor, the body of the hulking dog crumples to the floor.
I admonish myself for spending too much time fucking around with the bullshit jumping in from the arena stands, instead of just killing the boss. That gave the boss the time to cast that fucking Pillar bullshit. I didn’t get hurt, but that looked like an absolute death if I did get caught by it. That must have been the Pillar of Hades skill I saw in its skill list. I am not sure I would ever cast that spell myself, as I don’t really care to witness that again. I wish I never had to see that shit in the first place.
I wait as the dungeon begins absorbing the headless three headed dog, a nightmarish looking chest appearing along the left wall. Once the beast is absorbed, all that remains is a large flaming black mana stone and a spiked collar. I pick up the collar and take a look at it. It’s basically the same as one of the collars on the heads of Cerberus. It even has little skulls on the spikes.
“The goth kids in my class would kill for this accessory!” I say with a laugh.
[https://i.imgur.com/lO7WQl8.png]
“Holy shit!” I exclaim as I view the attributes of the accessory.
This thing is amazing. What quality is this though? The name is written in a pinkish color, whereas everything from this floor has been the same golden color. I guess that is what is beyond legendary grade? Unfortunately, this is MUCH too good to just put into my bag. I have to take off my precious amulet I received in the Grotto, and I put on the collar, feeling a huge surge in my power. I reluctantly put the Sea King necklace in my bag. I don’t dare get rid of it though.
I turn my attention toward the chest to my left. The lid of the chest has a ghastly head on it, its face distorted in pain and its mouth open letting out a silent scream of suffering.
“I really need to get the fuck out of here.” I say just completely done with this nightmarish place.
I hesitantly lift open the lid of the chest and inside is a folded piece of cloth. I unfold it and hold it up. It’s a long cape; the color is so black that it seems to absorb all light around it. Just looking at it is giving me the creeps. I inspect the item and almost choke on my own tongue at what I see.
[https://i.imgur.com/5yyFfqA.png]
I hesitate to put on the cloak, as I’m afraid I’m going to be swallowed into the black hole of its darkness if I do. I throw it over my shoulders, and it attaches itself to my armor. I feel another enormous surge of power as the bottomless blackness of the cloak seems to erupt forth, falling to the floor like a mist of eternal darkness.
I turn back to the chest and there is a bowl of food in there. Of course, there is, why wouldn’t a random food item be in here?! I take out the bowl and it appears to be gumbo. I dip a finger into it and take a taste of the yumminess in the bowl.
“Yep, that is Gumbo! Holy shit its HOTT!” I shout as the spiciness slams into my face like a sledgehammer.
Of course, hell would have nuclear spicy gumbo. I carefully put it in my bag as I’m not up for something that spicy right now. I was never that into spicy food even in my last life. I close the chest and a glow of golden white comes from my right. Over on the far side of the arena from where I came in, the cage that the boss emerged from has changed. There is now a ornate gate in its place, radiating a golden shine. Beyond it is a translucent stairway heading up to a bright shining light, white fog rolling down the staircase.
“Noooo Waaaaaay.”