Danmachi - Eldritch Apostle

Upon exiting the dark cave corridor, a breathtaking view awaited us. The 24th floor of the dungeon looked like something out of high fantasy. The walls, ground, and ceiling were made of wood, making it seem as if the entire floor was inside a giant tree.

The moss that grew on this floor radiated a blue light, enhancing the scenery and giving it a fairytale-like quality. This part of the dungeon, known as the Large Tree Labyrinth, was aptly named.

I looked down at the greenery below. Vast bushes and trees covered the dangerous and poisonous monsters that lurked in the shadows. Above, high on the walls, hung a large hornet nest.

Large wasn't a sufficient word to describe it; it was a massive nest that could easily house two humans. The hornets circling it were almost as big as me, which was terrifying.

Loud buzzing sounds reached us where Ottar and I stood. He turned towards me with a serious look.

"Be careful around those things. They are why second-class adventurers often avoid these floors. Many foolish adventurers overestimate their abilities and are killed by the powerful needles these hornets possess."

Listening to his warning, I shrugged and gave him a forced smirk. At first, he wasn't sure what I was trying to do, but then I turned back toward the nest with my hand aimed at it. I closed one eye to aim properly, held my breath for a second, and fired an eldritch blast at the hornet's nest.

A round mass of pure force formed in front of my hand and flew to its target. A sound, reminiscent of a laser gun firing, echoed before it hit its target. Upon impact, a large explosion shattered the entire nest along with the hornets, leaving only black smoke visible from below.

The explosion disturbed monsters below and above us. The next moment, a large group of Firebirds attacked. Firebirds are known to be troublesome long-range attackers that use fire. While not troublesome for me, they can be problematic for a party without a proper ranged unit.

Their attacks were slow for me, so I blasted them away with another eldritch blast, killing them all in one shot and clearing the air of threats. Various sounds of monsters below disturbed the short silence on the floor, and I looked at Ottar, who was as silent as ever.

The vegetation below revealed all kinds of monsters that lurked on these floors. I couldn't name them all even if I wanted to, but the most noticeable were Mad Beetles and Poison Vermis.

Poison Vermis were among the most dangerous monsters on these floors because of their deadly poison, which only Airmid could cure. They looked like a mix between an ant and a mosquito. Suddenly, one of them shot a projectile at me.

Ottar jumped in, deflecting the attack with his two heavy swords. The projectile hit the tip of his sword and bounced off the ground. A sharp needle fell a few meters away, but the hidden Vermis approached me from the shadows.

It fired its poison needle, hitting me directly in the lower part of my stomach. Ottar threw one of his swords at the monster, killing it instantly.

He rushed to me as I held my wound, crouching. For a moment, I felt horrible nausea and was about to puke. But suddenly, a sense of refreshment passed through me, removing all poison effects.

The wound closed, and I coughed up the deadly poison. Disgusting green liquid spewed from my mouth and began burning the ground. Ottar widened his eyes in surprise; I had just discovered that I was immune to poison.

"You... you're immune to poison?" He offered me a healing potion, but I politely declined it. Fixing my clothes, I took a deep breath.

I remained silent and just nodded to his question. Both of us decided it would be best to move faster toward Rivira. I wanted to kill as many monsters as possible and farm Excellia as much as I could.

Following the weird wooden path, I spammed my abilities to murder any monster I saw below. Explosions echoed throughout the dungeon, and the screeches of pain made any distant adventurer nervous.

Each blow revealed how many monsters were below the path. A huge colony of bug-like monsters looked at me before a mass of force caught up to them.

Blasting the ground below revealed huge nests of various monsters. I couldn't imagine what would happen if someone fell there. A small group of adventurers in the distance stared at me like I was a ghost.

Ottar noticed them too, but we paid them no mind. They couldn't do anything with the strongest adventurer in the world by my side. They went another way as Ottar and I moved to the floor above.

To my knowledge, these floors were considered to be half the size of Orario, which was mind-boggling. Floors below are even larger, which could mean that the unexplored floors deep below could be the size of entire regions or even continents.

Poisonous spores floated through the air, and fungus monsters that radiated those particles tried to attack us multiple times but to no avail. I could feel my strength increasing, as my falna worked differently, making it stronger than usual.

With my unique falna, I could probably solo these levels despite being level 2. Hours passed until we finally reached floor 19.

The patterns of floor 19 were different from the floors below. It still had vast vegetation, but I noticed fewer monsters spawning. There were no huge nests hidden behind the greenery, no poisonous plants, or anything similar.

As we walked, I blasted any monster I encountered. A group of Amazoness approached us. They were random adventurers whom I didn't recognize, probably just a party grinding.

As they got closer, I noticed some lustful gazes directed at Ottar. It wasn't surprising since Amazoness adored strong men. Some of them even looked at me with curious eyes but kept quiet, fearing to provoke a level 7 adventurer.

Just as they passed behind us, I noticed a huge hornet ready to charge at one of the Amazoness. Its deadly needle was poised to kill. The hornet flew at blinding speed towards the Amazoness, who weren't paying attention to their surroundings.

With quick precision, I turned around and fired an eldritch blast, aiming my hand like a gun. It looked pretty cool, so I had to do it. The hornet was blown into pieces when the blast hit it.

Ottar turned around to check the commotion behind him, and both of us noticed the surprised expressions of the Amazoness. One of them, whom I had saved, cautiously approached me with an uneasy expression.

She was taller than me, with the usual Amazonian dark skin and revealing clothes. Her long brown hair and bright brown eyes gazed at me as she stood before me and Ottar.

"Th... thanks for saving me, boy. Without you, I would be dead meat. Those hornets are troublesome... how can I repay you?"

She seemed uneasy but thankful. Ottar was intimidating, but she bravely came to thank me.

"No need to repay me. I just did what I thought was right," I said. The Amazonian nodded and retreated to her companions, glancing back at me one more time before they left.

Ottar side-eyed me and continued forward. I couldn't tell if he was proud of me or disappointed.

Later that day, we finally arrived at the entrance to the 18th floor, where the dungeon city of Rivira was located. From there, my focus on completing the quest should be absolute, as I had already wasted much time.

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--- STATUS ---

Name: Niall

Race: *REDACTED*

Level: 2

Power: 721 B --> 932 S

Survivability: 701 B --> 888 A

Durability: 613 C --> 801 A