Chapter 9: The Next Floor

Dust silently maneuvered over the terrain, his steps were light and created no noise as he waded through leaves and twigs. In his hands, he grasped two stone knives. Both knives were sharpened to a cutting edge and looked like it could slice through flesh with little difficulty.His breathing was steady and calm, his eyes exuding a sharp, almost predatory glint. He crept closer to his target, a blade mantis.

It was just like the one they'd encountered the first time they entered this floor. The sharp scythe-like blades on its arms glistened evilly in the light of the artificial sun above. Dust's hands suddenly blurred, the daggers that he previously held were now darting towards the mantis.

The daggers were fast, but the mantis managed to react in time, blocking one of the daggers that went for its head and hissing in pain as the other dug into its abdomen. Dust didn't let this change go as he darted forwards, headed straight at the mantis. He unsheathed his sword mid-dash and swung to the side in a horizontal arc, slicing off two of the surprisingly soft legs.

The mantis gave a miserable shriek as it lurched to the side, the legs that were cut off now unable to support its weight. Dust twisted his blade and stabbed forward intending to impale it in the abdomen, only to his air as the mantis's wings spread open and send his adversary flying away towards a tall tree trunk. The two-meter tall antis gave an enraged hiss as it spread its wing once again, flying towards Dust with its scythe-like appendages ready to cleave him in half.

The mantis's flight was a bit awkward due to having two of its legs cut off, making one side of its body heavier than the other. That didn't stop it though, its arm blurred with eerie accuracy as it went for Dust's neck.

Dust responded by abruptly bending his torso backwards, watching as the swing traveled above his vision. He twisted his body and rolled to the side, avoiding the angry mantis that landed heavily in his previous position. It had trouble standing up properly, but both of its arms still went for Dust.

He sidestepped an arm that went down vertically and parried one the swung in a horizontal arm upwards with his sword. He jumped back and threw another stone dagger at the mantis's face, his aim was a bit off and it grazed the side of its arms instead. Dust didn't pause his offensive however, as he used a move that he had grown to like. As he threw the dagger he kicked off a tree behind him and swung his sword in a horizontal fashion.

The mantis saw this and reeled its head back, preventing Dust from beheading it and instead getting a bladed arm sliced off. A miserable shriek left its mouth as Dust landed with a small puff on the ground below. He dashed to the side of the mantis and cut off more of its legs. The mantis was unable to support its body and collapsed on the ground below. Its eyes displayed cold anger as its remaining arm blurred. Dust saw this and twisted his body, but was still left with a cut on his side.

He winced in pain and backed off. He watched as the mantis tenaciously tried to stand up, failing multiple times in the process. Its wings expanded out and buzzed as it propelled itself forwards, failing once again and crashing to a tree nearby. Dark green blood oozed out of its wounds, its life visibly beginning to face away.

Dust raised his arms up in victory, letting out a small cry. He finally did it! A mantis was single-handedly defeated by him! Granted, he used a sneak attack, but that didn't matter! He did it!

A wide smile covered his face as he looked at the dead mantis, going for the legs was a good idea. Dust wouldn't be able to defeat this thing with as much ease if it was aware of his presence and had its legs intact. He turned his head as he felt someone pat his shoulder, and smiled brightly at the person beside him.

"Congratulations," Lilith said, looking at Dust who was finally capable enough to not die as they explored this dungeon for a way out. Dust gave a nod, too busy smiling like an idiot to reply properly. His strength right now would probably be at the peak of G rank, bordering on an F rank adventurer.

His smile died down to a slight grin as he turned towards Lilith, they had been in this dungeon for almost two weeks now and the amount of appreciation he felt for Lilith could not be described in words. She could've just left him and advanced, but instead, she chose to help him get stronger so that he wouldn't die as they moved around the dungeon.

"I guess it's time to advance, huh?" Dust said, now that he was stronger, they could probably explore the next floor without much danger. He wouldn't be a hindrance to Lilith anymore, he had promised himself that.

Dust wasn't the only one who showed improvement though, Lilith's control over her magic had apparently risen and her swordsmanship showed signs of improvement. If she fought the bear from before again, it would only take half of the effort she expended before to defeat it. Their rate of improvement really was terrifying.

Lilith gave a small nod and began walking, motioning for Dust to follow. She was headed in the direction of the next floor. The place near the lake where they set up camp in before was already tidied up. Everything was packed beforehand as both of them were confident that Dust could take care of his target.

Before long, they arrived at the large stone double-doored entrance. It stood in an imposing manner and felt like it was looking down on both of them. Dust stepped forward and gave the door a push. With a grunt, the door began to open, revealing a dark passageway that held stairs leading downward.

The only light in the passage was from the veins of mana on the walls. These veins were red and pulsed with an eerie glow. Dust looked back and shared a look with Lilith before walking forwards, into the darkness.

He brought out a lamp from his bag and provided some light, light that was much brighter than the dim glow provided by the red veins of mana that crept up the walls. Dust was still creeped out by these things, he suppressed a shudder as he walked down the set of stairs.

He would occasionally look back and glance at Lilith, admiring how beautiful she looked even in this dimly lit passage. Dust found himself doing that a lot lately, he couldn't find a single blemish or flaw in Lilith's figure that only became increasingly beautiful the longer one looked at her. Lilith returned his gaze with a puzzled look, making him abruptly turn his head forward, realizing that his glance had turned into a stare.

Their steps were the only things they heard as they walked down the staircase. The atmosphere around the two of them was surprisingly peaceful, contrasting with the eerie dungeon around them. Dust thought about how he had gotten used to having Lilith around and felt that he was extremely lucky to find a girl like this, he really owed her too much. Dust solemnly promised himself that he would repay this girl in the future,

His thoughts began to stray, but he was brought back to reality by a dim light that they saw on the end of the passage. The stairs ended and what lay beyond the passage had a completely different atmosphere compared tot he floor above. If the floor above had the feeling of constantly having the embrace of nature around you, this floor assaulted you with a strong feeling of loneliness and solitude.

The floor was made of stone, stalactites hung on the ceiling above and the only light came from the dim blur crystals that were scattered all over the roof. Long, natural pillars of stone linked the ceiling with the floor that was covered in puddles and small pools of dirty-looking water.

This entire floor looked like it was from a massive underground chasm, caves and passageways were in the walls far away and led to god knows where and random holes were all over the walls and the ceiling. Dust had a bad feeling about these holes, they definitely aren't there for no reason.

Dust and Lilith walked forward cautiously, eyeing the surroundings much like they did the first floor. The water below their feet splashed as they walked forward and created large echoes that made Dust cringe. He wasn't doing a very good job at being stealthy.

The turned a corner and encountered their first monster. This thing looked like a mix between a fish and a human being. It stood on two legs and its back was hunched forward, displaying the fish tail that jutted out from its behind. Fins ran up this creatures spine and its head was that of a fish. Its hands held a stone spear and its webbed feet made loud splashes at it leisurely walked around.

Lilith leaned on a large pillar of stone and pulled Dust over. A frown covered her face as she motioned for the two of them to attack it, with Lilith attacking from the side as Dust garnered its attention. He nodded and crept toward one of the pillars on the fish-man's back. His arms flashed and a stone dagger blurred, hitting the fish's back and making it let out a high pitched scream.

Dust left the corner and revealed himself to the fish-man who looked at him with red eyes. The monster charged toward him and hefted its spear, preparing to hurl it towards him. Dust got ready to block the spear that might come at any time, but Lilith came out of nowhere as a blur and cut off the fish's head.

Her face revealed a frantic expression as she dashed toward Dust, she grabbed his collar and dragged him to blind spot between two rocks. She put her finger to her mouth and motioned for him to quiet down. He nodded and looked over the rock they were hiding behind. He witnessed a terrifying sight.

The fish-man they killed before was now being hungrily devoured by dozens of other fish-men. Their sharp teeth were covered in blood as they feasted on the remains of the once living fish-man. Some even started fighting over the food and soon a fight broke out. More fish-men were killed, but the smell of blood attracted even more to the scene.

Soon, over fifty fish-men were in the area, looking around for things to kill. Dust pulled his head back hurriedly and stared at Lilith with wide eyes. The fight with the fish-man was too easy! A single fish-man wasn't the threat, it was the smell of blood! These fish-men weren't created after normal fish! They were piranhas!

These things would swarm and if they were surrounded, it'd be over for them. This floor was no doubt big and the amount of fish-men here... Dust shuddered.

The sound of splashing water got nearer to the area they hid in and Dust held his breath as the fish-man failed to notice them. Its back was turned and it began to sniff the air. It knew they were around here. A shiver crawled up Dust's spine as the fish-man abruptly turned around and laid its eyes on them.

It opened its mouth and...

Chapter End.

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Author's Note:

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