'You have leveled up to level sixty-nine.'
Hearing the familiar ring of a level up in his head Marcus felt a slight sense of melancholy.
He normally would feel exhilarated to have reached even greater heights, but since this level came at the cost of killing the entity he had been training with, he felt a bit conflicted.
'In the end it was just a manifestation of the dungeon. Still that Shinigami seemed to have more personality than anything else I have faced here, so I at least plan to honor its memory.'
Coming to peace with what had just happened Marcus instead turned his attention to the chest that had appeared.
It was the final one he would be getting on this set of floors, and it would likely be pretty powerful.
'I wonder what it might be. Perhaps some more amethros ingots. I have nearly gotten enough to outfit everyone with full sets of armor, weapons, and equipment. But I need at least three more. Or maybe it will be another unique skill. I have only gotten two so far in this place while everyone else has already gotten at least three.'
During his short walk over to the chest Marcus raced to think about what he might have obtained from the fiftieth-floor chest, but when he opened it he was flabbergasted by what he had found.
All that was in the chest was a single book.
Certainly, this was not the first time he had gotten something like this, but he figured for such a difficult floor, and it begin the last one in the set that it would contain something better.
'Is it just going to be more incomplete magic spells, or perhaps enchanting formations I will have to practically create from scratch.' Marcus thought as he disheartenly picked up the book.
Yet when he opened it, his eyes went wide since it was neither of the things he thought it would be.
Instead, it was a guide on something call the moon style. An advanced form of techniques for wielding the scythe.
'There are eight main techniques, though I already learned two from battling the Shinigami. I suppose that was my introduction and this is my continued learning.'
Leafing through the book Marcus examined all of the forms and steps to learning them, and a smile slowly formed on his face.
All together the knowledge was actually likely greater than most unique skills.
Each of the techniques in the book were incredibly powerful in their own right. Which Marcus had already discovered in the two he knew.
All combined he knew that they would make a formidable addition to his skills.
'Now that I look at them more closely it seems they are similar in potency to the skills the sword savant has and that he taught Quillon and Mrazivy.' Marcus thought.
To this day those were still some of the best attack and defensive skills he had seen, and it was clear that the moon style was in a similar vein.
It would take time, but eventually once he learned all of the forms it would make for the most formidable scythe arts the world had ever seen.
Planning to practice later Marcus stored the book away and turned towards the glowing teleportation circle.
When he stepped on it, he was taken straight to the familiar waiting room he had visited multiple times before.
The moment he appeared a crowd of people and beast turned their heads towards him.
'Looks like I am the last one this time.'
Scanning the room Marcus found that everyone else was already there.
Swiftly he found Mrazivy and Lilia have come up to him, both seeming to have simply teleported over to him with how fast they moved.
"We were beginning to get worried. You took way long than anyone else." Lilia said as she gave Marcus her customary bearhug.
However, now that she had evolved and was level sixty-two her strength was no joke and Marcus actually had to brace himself with mana to prevent his form from cracking under the pressure.
'Damn, she is even stronger now. This stupid dungeon is too effective.'
Feeling himself starting to buckle under Lilia's might Marcus strained himself to return her hug.
Once Lilia had released him, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her.
Now that he was able to get a good look, he found that she had gotten taller again and was looking more and more like a radiant young woman. Having grown considerably in the last two months that they had been apart while completing the forty-first to fiftieth floor. She only had the slightest remaining childish visage now that she was close to turning sixteen.
In fact, she had grown up to be just as attractive if not more so than Marcus' form as Irene, and apparently Alaric had his fair share of troubles dealing with jealous guys challenging him to take his place as Lilia's betrothed. Though naturally he was able to easily deal with any of them.
"It seems that Lilia has your undivided attention. Are you not going to greet your soon to be wife? For a bit I was even afraid that you would not make it back in time since the wedding is in a little under three months." Mrazivy said with a playful smile.
Turning her way Marcus scooped her up and despite there being so many people planted a quick kiss on her lips.
"I would never think to ignore you Mraz. I was just reeling a bit from Lilia strength. It seems in terms of physical power I pale in comparison to her now."
"Yeah, well I think that unless I use my draconic transformation, she is stronger than me as well." Mrazivy said.
After he had been greeted by the two that were closest to him Marcus went over to the others and greeted them as well.
"Looks like everyone has managed to get through without any lasting wounds again. Though I suppose since all of us have regeneration skills now that is to be expected." Marcus said once he had finished initial talks with everyone.
With the pleasantries out of the way they now, they all sat down and began discussing more important topics.
"Really there is only one more challenge!?" Marcus said when everyone told him what they had heard from the dungeon's guardian.
Apparently the next ten floors were all bundled into one mega trial that would be completed all at once, with each of them participating together.
Initially they had planned to head back after completing the fiftieth floor and come again next year to do the nest set, but this changed things.
"We will need to finish within two and a half months at the latest to make sure we can get back in time for your and Mrazivy's wedding, so we have been waiting for you input before making any decision." James said to Marcus.
Looking towards Mrazivy, Marcus asked her what she wanted to do, and he got the answer he was expecting.
"I think we should go ahead and finish up this place. Who knows what next year might bring. We barely managed to all get together this year. I feel it would be best if we simply push on through. I am certain we can finish up in time for the wedding. And if not my sister and father will find a way to postpone it until we return."
Mrazivy giving her opinion, Marcus saw no reason not to agree with her and decided to throw his vote towards continuing.
"So, it is unanimous. We will finish the special dungeon in this setting." James said now that Marcus had given his approval.
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