Danmachi - Eldritch Apostle

Once, a mutated version of a bloodsaurus turned into a black mist, leaving only a single crystal behind. Ottar stared down at its unique monster core, which shined with a black-red color palette; its value was still unknown.

Returning to the fight at the beginning, I did my best to harm the mutated creature, but it was far too strong for someone at my level. I guessed that the evolved bloodsaurus was around level 5 or 6, but Ottar still shot it.

Seeing that powerful creature disappear after just one hit made me realize I still have a long road to follow. Of course, I already knew that, but seeing it in person made me realize it even harder, if you could say it like that.

We continued moving forward until we reached the huge entrance leading to an unknown floor above.

"This is the entrance to the safe point of the 28th floor. We'll rest here for some time and proceed further."

I nodded at that, and both of us moved inside the safe zone. I questioned how the monsters knew exactly which floor they shouldn't go to.

Surely they were being controlled by the dungeon, but the safe point having its entrance so wide made me question how, for example, a bloodsaurus couldn't wander inside and slaughter anyone residing there at that time.

A dungeon regulation mostly. After all, the dungeon is allowing adventuring for whatever reason. Since the dungeon could always spawn a bunch of monsters and send them to the surface, at least that's what I thought.

Ouranos prayed to the dungeon constantly, and that's where the question mark popped up.

'How exactly would the dungeon listen to his prayers?'

That's the question I've been asking myself for a couple of minutes because the only theory that was likely an explanation was that the dungeon was Ouranos' mother.

'Gaia...'

Her name echoed inside my brain while Ottar pushed back monsters too strong for me. However, he made me fight the ones I could take. Not that I minded, but this entire experience was sure to give me tons of excelia.

Not enough to level up, unfortunately. It seemed like I had to grind harder than the last time to level up and become stronger. It was a bummer, but there was nothing in my power to do besides begging Azathoth to make it easier for me, but I knew she would reject my pleas.

Ottar sat down on the ground covered with leaves and vegetation. The vegetation on this floor was much tamer than the floors below. Flora and fauna still boomed, but it was a lot more fitting for human life, unlike the rest of the floors below.

He began inspecting his weapons and lost himself in thoughts or whatever. I, on the other hand, stared up at the dungeon ceiling as I lay on the ground. We rested like that for half an hour before a heavy noise woke me up from my thoughts.

"Stand up. We're not stopping until we reach Rivira now." Ottar was a man of few words, so it was a bit hard to have any type of long conversation with him.

His footsteps shook the ground a little, and I got up, following behind him. His massive figure towered in front of me like I was a toddler.

We exited the dense forest area and passed right through the cave corridor that led to the floor above. Once we passed through a dark, cold corridor, I began hearing the sounds of massive waterfalls.

"Water City..." I quietly murmured as a huge waterfall fell from the world above. The force from that waterfall alone could power entire cities back on Earth if humans found a way to use them.

Our footsteps broke the short pause, and we moved further, passing in front of a huge lake where a waterfall poured in. Some people guessed that this lake could lead to Melen Lake before the underwater dungeon got sealed.

Perhaps it could still lead to the lake, but no one knows that because no one dares to try something like that. No one could hold their breath that long, and the underwater monsters would make it impossible to dive.

Perhaps once I unsealed the water dungeon, the monsters on these floors would become more frequent. But to do something like that, I have to level up a few more times and gain something like water breathing.

"Monsters ahead, prepare yourself," Ottar commanded as, in the distance, a smaller group of monsters approached us. The group consisted of Kelpies, Mermans, Iguazu, and Blue Crabs that were fricking huge.

Iguazu, being the fastest monster around these floors, was a huge pain in the ass. Ottar readied his sword, but I signaled him to let me do the job. He just nodded to me, and I moved forward. The first time I got hit by such speed was when one of the Iguazu charged at me.

My shoulder was blasted away in an instant like it was made out of butter. The sound of bones cracking and tearing flesh echoed around the battlefield. This time, I didn't feel any kind of pain, which was surprising.

'It seems like my evolution made me lose pain receptors. That can come in handy,' I thought as Ottar just watched me with his sword ready. He almost got himself involved, but I pushed him back by signaling with my hand.

The rest of the Iguazu all launched at me at once with the intent to kill. Seeing that, I had no other option but to let the first one hit me.

BAM

The one I let hit me struck me right in the stomach. Blood and guts dripped down from my body, and my entire insides were visible. But that was the moment when I realized their attack patterns.

The next moment, I was able to push away the rest of the Iguazu and force-wave them into the ground, killing them instantly as they were pretty vulnerable monsters despite their high attack damage and speed.

Wounds that would be fatal for a mortal healed pretty quickly, and I could see my flesh regenerating and closing the open wounds. Blood stopped pouring down, and I was as good as new.

The rest of the monsters paused for a quick moment when they noticed my regenerative abilities. I used this moment of shock and spammed the shit out of my ability. Easy to say, not even a monster core was left when I was done with them.

Ottar stared at me without asking anything. I just glanced at him and moved forward. The silence in the air was loud. Abilities like mine seemed to make Ottar question his mortality.

"Is there a monster rex on this floor? That two-headed dragon should be somewhere, right?" my question broke the silence in the air.

The huge Boaz hadn't looked at me and just continued moving forward. "Yes, there was, but Ishtar Familia killed it a couple of days ago."

"Ishtar Familia, huh..." The thought of an evil goddess and her disgusting toad by her side brought back some awful memories. I knew that they were powerful enough to defeat Amphisbaena but not powerful enough to challenge Loki Familia.

They were also one of the wealthiest familias in the city, or even the entire world, because they held an entire red-light district. Easy to say that it was an infinite money glitch since Orario men were mostly selfish bastards, only capable of killing monsters for money and being douchebags.

I didn't want to sound like a man-hater since I'm a man myself, but there was a serious problem among the men of Orario. Women adventurers could be douchebags too, but I would dare say they were tamer than men.

With Amphisbaena gone, Ottar and I continued moving up toward the dungeon city of Rivira. Along our way, I killed entire monster parties with some help from my boar friend when a stronger monster appeared.

Thanks to his experience and speed, we moved fast enough to arrive on the 19th floor, where another huge corridor was located.

"Be careful not to get hit by anything, as the monsters on the floors ahead of us possess strong poisons. I don't know the extent of your regenerative ability, but avoid getting hit by any projectile thrown our way."

Ottar's advice echoed in my ears, and we moved into the unknown.

---

--- STATUS ---

Name: Niall

Race: *REDACTED*

Level: 2

Power: 456 E --> 721 B

Survivability: 512 D --> 701 B

Durability: 412 E --> 613 C