Chapter 36: Chapter 36: How Did I Get To The 8th Floor?
Grasping my sword, the soft leather felt great in my hands as a single swinging slash ripped apart the four rats—the feeling of their bodies being torn apart by the blade made me realise that offence is not my problem.
-> Killed Ratman C->D
"It's defence and staying level-headed."
*Step*
I pressed off the ground, my body lunging towards the second and third scout groups—my body felt lighter than ever as my sword hung over my right shoulder, pushing me down slightly and forcing me always to be conscious of the difference in weight between both sides forcing my right leg to compensate.
Woosh!
Like a storm, my body rushed forward. The ratmen seemed shocked after I suddenly doubled my speed, leaning to the right to avoid an arrow that shot towards my head before lifting the hilt of my sword to block a sword.
Clank!
*Slash*
Deflecting the blow of the rat, I jumped forward, pivoting my hips and spinning in a full circle holding the blade out, feeling its sharp edge tearing the poor bastards apart—the sound of intestines falling out.
Their soft cries and screeches made me realise I was taking a life with each one that fell.
But forgive me; I am not a hero and cannot think about your feelings.
*Swoosh!*
Slashing down my blade cleaved a rat in half—the inside of its body was gross, but somehow the heart looked and smelt delicious...
Maybe a side effect of becoming a wolf...
{(He's beginning to believe)}
[(Shut up, Lupera!)]
I began to use their bodies and attacks against them; it was hard at first... their blades would slice my skin or cut my tail which hurt.
However, when one attack could kill them, I began to use them to train my body, how to dodge a blade perfectly, what kind of counter best suited each type of evasion...
Countless pieces of information flooded my mind as the information given by the Greastsword technique began to show me as I fought.
Stances, the way to use the Ox stance when fighting multiple enemies...
-> You have Killed Ratman 15
The number of monsters I killed once again became numbers—once it reached over 10, it would change to numbers... A minor discovery, but it was interesting for me.
Bang!
I hit some strange wall... it was a huge rat with mottled fur and a large axe, my block was perfect, yet it didn't stagger... So it seems I need to put more power in for larger opponents...Does that mean I could lower the power for weaker ones?
With a renewed vigour, my sword thrust forward, the sharp tip of his Axe cutting through the skies aiming to split me in half with its rancid breath wafting into my nose.
Greatsword vs Axe... a fun fight.
*Clang!*
My blade struck the metal shaft of his Axe, sending him back several steps before the huge thing shrieked at me, and its muscles began to bulge, clearly angry.
In response to the strike, I sidestepped away from the huge rat and ducked below the swing, coming up behind him. My hand clasped onto his neck while my sword found its way through the opening under his armpit. I felt the body become limp as the light faded from its eyes, and my sword was released from its hold.
I quickly grabbed the great Axe in my other hand and raised it above my head. The next two rats were easily dispatched, each time being felled by a single swing of the Great Axe.
The feeling was weird like I was a child swinging a stick, with no mastery or stances, just using my power to crush them with the sharp blade... it was fun, but I was getting bored.
After dispatching the next three rats, my thoughts were interrupted as one charged at me, and my arm rose, pointing straight at his chest.
"Fireball!"
*BOOM!*
A great burst of flames emerged from my outstretched palm, sending the rat flying away to roll on the ground as a cloud of dust followed its flight.
[(!!!!)]
{(How!?)}
->Spell Learned: Mid-Rank Fireball (Lv1)
"Oh... Cool.... it worked...." I thought that since I could make the flames appear for my Flaming Wolf Fist... Could I not make a ball of flames like that and hurl it at my opponent from the range?
The action was a bit awkward, but now that I had cast it once and got the notification, there were countless strange diagrams and patterns in my head... why do these allow me to know the exact time and how much mana it would cost to cast the spell?
Strange... very strange.
The third one that came at me this time was much larger than the previous two, maybe even reaching 2 meters in height, and it looked more vicious as its eyes burned with hatred. It wielded a huge club larger than me, a thick wooden weapon with a long metal spike at the end.
My fireball flew outwards towards the rat, hitting the target squarely in the face before exploding, sending the rodent to the ground.
Before I could even get to the last one, the rat had already taken several steps backwards and was trying to flee. I had a bad feeling about this, so I followed it, taking chase at full speed, great Axe and all.
I caught up to him and brought my blade down on his shoulder with a powerful downward swing. He could only turn slightly and was still falling back when I felt something hot rush over my arms, making me stop.
I looked at my palms, finding them aflame, and quickly tried to dispel them, but nothing was happening...
What is going on? I thought frantically as I stared at the flaming appendages, I had always been able to dispel any fire spell, but this one was different...
It's as if it was part of me...
Then it hit me that I could feel the spell inside of me, deep within my core. The feeling was foreign to me, a tingling sensation, warm and familiar.
I looked at the rat and found him crawling away, flames surrounding him.
Is it because of the damage I just did to him? It felt like I had just absorbed some of his mana...
Can my flames devour the mana of others?
...
What does this mean?
I sighed in relief as I took a deep breath and calmed myself down, trying to keep myself from panicking.
It's fine... no big deal, Eternia will tell me later.
Right now, I need to focus on hunting more enemies.
And I did—after finding another group of monsters, I swiftly dispatched them. Each sent its heat into my body, filling me with the urge to attack again.
At first, I thought it was normal, but after the 10th one, I realised something was off.
This is dangerous; I thought as I watched a rat with black fur flee from me, fleeing the scene of our battle.
Not only do I absorb their mana, but I get increasingly enraged by the flames...
Careful, Rai, you wanted to avoid this.
A while after that, I noticed my head was becoming clearer.
Well, I don't have a choice...
So, I walked in the direction the black-furred rat went, following the sounds of its steps.
It's not that far, maybe just a few hundred meters away.
After several minutes, the black rat came into view, and so did another, then another, until five were visible to my eyes.
But... they still died under my blade.
When did I enter the next-floor portal? Item sister... I swear she looked at me... oh well...
{(Eternia you are really lucky, huh?)}
[(Mmmm... but he is totally confused... he's on the 7th Floor not the 6th...)]
{(He is so chaotic, but his focus when fighting is immense... Like a beast.}
[(Well you made him a werewolf...)]
***
How long did I fight for? What was the last Item that dropped? Somehow I feel like my hand is a bit sore, and my shoulder feels a bit tired.
My body felt strange as fighting them seemed to become second nature; when did they stop attacking me? Where was the so-called mid-boss?
I didn't know...
Only my level had increased by 3, and I was now standing on a pile of corpses with a body filled with deep wounds, and my sword was already nearly broken...
"Oh? It's the 7th Floor... already cleared... Let's head back and check my gains in a safe place... I want to sleep, but Aki is waiting..."
Not to mention all the fighting has left a strange feeling in my body... My blood won't stop surging, and I feel filled with desire...
[...]
{(R.I.P Aki's Virgin cooch)}
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