Knowledge of Abyssal(Written): Expert > Mastered

'Ahhhh, finally I'm done. That only took me.... Mother, how much time is left until I absorb those mana cores?'

Time remaining for current absorption: 264Y, 9M, 24D

'Eight years...'

Yes, I hadn't moved from this seat for eight years.

'Wow, I thought it was hard but to take eight years. At least I'm finally done though, now I can finally learn what's in the library.'

I got up and all of the slimes around me suddenly started jumping around.

'Yeah I know, it must've been boring waiting for me finish huh?'

We left the room and I walked to the nearest bookcase and skimmed a few books.

'These are, books about magic! This one is fire magic! This one is about holy magic! And this one is even about nature magic!'

Every single book I opened up was about magic, and they were all categorized in their respective languages. I thought a bit, it would take me quite a long time to read all of these and I just spent years learning how to read these languages so I decided I would just learn what I need now and then focus on the rest later.

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Over the past few months hundreds of adventurers have flocked to the city of Tayton for a certain reason.

"Hey, is it true what they've been saying? There's going to be an expedition into the dungeon soon?"

"No, we all just gathered here for the hell of it. Of course there's going to be an expedition you idiot, why the hell would everyone waste their time. Not only that but there's been talk going around that the expedition is going to be lead by a team of S rank adventurers."

"Really? I thought all the S rank adventurers did was search the world for the strongest monsters to kill."

"Yeah but think about it, no one has ever organized an expedition of this scale for this dungeon yet. Not to mention that the last expedition into this dungeon only made it to the 60th floor. There's no telling what kind of treasure is waiting in the deeper floors and all of it is untouched. There's even rumors that the nobles pitched in and covered most of the costs required for food and other supplies."

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"So, today is the day huh?"

James, the Guild Master of Waric's Adventurer's Guild in Tayton, looked out the window from his office as he was preparing for the day. This day was going to mark the beginning of the second expedition into the Warwic Dungeon and it was his job as Guild Master to lead the adventurers into the dungeon.

"Ugh, I'm seventy-four for fucks sake, even if I am the Guild Master I'm too damn old for this shit. Why the hell did those damn nobles have to resort to funding an expedition just to try and get me to resign."

According to the rules of the Adventurer's Guild, if the Guild Master, for any reason, cannot preform the duties required of them, they will be removed. One of these duties is leading any and all expeditions into a dungeon so long as the ones participating in the expedition were adventurers.

"Hmph, I'll show them that even though I am old I wasn't a previous S rank for nothing."

James tied back his long white hair before he equipped his armor. The armor he wore, old and worn from countless battles, the armor was chipped in many places and color of the armor had long since faded away. But color of the armor James wore didn't matter, neither did the armors condition, all that mattered is that it was the armor that belonged to the previous S rank Blood Samurai, James Nichye. The nickname wasn't his idea though, the samurai part was the idea of the adventurers because the armor he wore resembled warriors called samurai from where they came from. The blood part of the nickname came from the way James fought, the armor he wore would look old and worn normally but when the blood of the wearers enemies got on it the armor would absorb it and the defensive stats would increase considerably. His armor would not only increase in defense but it would also store any excess blood and turn it into life force for the wearer whenever they were hurt. This same effect applied to the four swords James used as well. His swords, old, rusted and chipped, would absorb the life force any enemy cut and cause massive amounts of bleeding to any wound. James also knew a fair amount of blood magic and he was able to drain away the life force from himself as well as his enemies in order to increase the damage and range of his attacks.

Back when James was in his thirties he was already one of the most feared S rank Battle Masters just because of his pure mastery of the sword. On his first dungeon expedition he found the armor that would earn him his everlasting nickname. Instead of rejecting the title of Blood Samurai he decided to scour the world for weapons that would suit the name and he wouldn't stop there. By his mid forties his body was starting to decline so he decided to learn some blood magic that would give him back his previous reflexes and strength while draining away the life force of both him and his enemies. Normally magic like this would kill someone after just a few years of using it, but due to the effects of his armor he's managed to live to the age of seventy-four.

As James finished preparing his armor and weapons he grabbed his helmet and stepped through the door.

"Hell, I probably won't even have that much trouble since those seven bastards are on their way."

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On the outskirts of the city of Tayton, seven strange characters could be seen.

The first was a seven foot tall man clad in full plate armor that looked to have been charred black and warped from dragon fire. Similarly to the armor, was a massive slab of charred and warped steel roughly seven and a half feet long being dragged behind him. On his side seemed to be a longsword, also charred black and warped into an odd shape.

The second, another man wearing what looked like stone carved to resemble plate armor. In his right hand he held a halberd that was pitch black and would stink of blood if anyone got close enough. In his left hand he held a massive hunk of stone that was carved in the form of a shield. About six inches thick, five and a half feet tall, and three feet wide.

The third was wearing golden plate armor, he was like a beacon of shining light, though that was probably just the sun reflecting off of the armor. In one hand he carried a mace that seemed to actually produce light. In the other he held a tower shield with the image of the sun carved onto it.

The fourth was a woman who had every inch of her skin covered in long purple robes. Her hands were covered with purple gloves and she held a black wand that had small purple stones embedded in it. On her side she had a book that had numerous purple runes on the cover.

The fifth was the least memorable of them all, this one was completely covered in rags to the point you couldn't even distinguish gender. What stood out about them though, was the two daggers they held, both were identical and had three blue runes engraved on each side of the blade.

The sixth was a woman with her face covered by a black leather mask and hood. Wearing black leather armor, she had a black longbow on her back and a black rapier strapped to her side.

The last was a incredibly beautiful woman, with long flowing blonde hair and bright blue eyes, any man would fall in love at just the sight of her. She wore long white robes and carried an odd black bell with her along with a white book that had a single golden rune carved on its cover.

These seven were the S rank adventuring team known as The Skeleton Crew. Black the Berserker, was the main physical damage dealer with a total level of 498. Gery the Defender, was the main tank with a total level of 487. Cyne the Paladin, was a secondary tank and healer with a total level of 464. Brenda the Witch, was the main magic damage dealer, with a total level 479. Sam the Rouge, was a secondary physical damage dealer and trap disarmer with a total level of 475. Hilda the Ranger, was also a secondary physical damage dealer and scout, with a total level of 470. Finally there was Elisabeth the Priestess, she was the main healer and a secondary magic damage dealer with a total level of 501. These seven were not only the biggest team of S rank adventurers, but also the most feared for their ruthless effectiveness as they've never failed a single mission.

"So, are we almost there?"

The one to ask this question was Black.

"Oh come on Black, you're the tallest of us so shouldn't you be able to tell before any of us?" Hilda was the one to respond, and was met with a low growl from Black.

"Will you knock it off. Yes Black, we're nearly there." Elisabeth stopped them before anything even started, after countless fights she got quite good at predicting when they might fight.

"Hopefully this time we might be able to find a clue on how to get out of this shitty game." Cyne spoke this time.

"Jeez, do you still believe that's possible? We've been stuck here for how many years now? How many of us are even still alive after this much time anyway, I can't even tell the fucking NPCs from actual people anymore since they've started registering as adventurers."

"Relax Brenda, we will find a way out, we just have to keep searching. Maybe this time we'll be able to find an answer inside this dungeon." Elisabeth tried to comfort her.

The group calmed down and continued heading toward Tayton, to hopefully find the answer that would help them get back home.