[You have slept in a bed. HP, CP, SP and MP have been fully restored.]

Daichi closed the box and let out a small yawn. He stood up and stretched his arms and legs. Daichi clenched his fists and felt the power coursing through his entire body. He put his sleeping bed back in his inventory and looked around the room. Daichi then saw a large open window and went near it.

The view outside took him by surprise. The sky was full of dark grey clouds and blocked most of the sunlight. As Daichi looked he saw nothing but an open field surrounding the castle. A barren land with a majestic castle in the center. That was the structure of this dungeon.

Daichi felt the window sill on his palms and then looked at his hands. He felt several different emotions at once. Disbelief, amazement, excitement and more.

'I was supposed to die… But instead I got reincarnated into a fictional world with one of the greatest abilities. And now I'm in a dungeon battling enemies that could kill me and yet… I don't feel scared… Wariness maybe. But not fear. But more than that I feel excited… Excited about the battles, the opportunities, about this world… Still… Sometimes I wonder if this is all just an elaborate dream my mind conjured up to keep me alive… Until I heal from my wounds and wake up to my dull boring life…'

Daichi shook his head and sighed. 'Turning off the gamer's mind always makes me more emotional.'

Daichi sat near the window and started meditating. He needed to be at his best for the battles in the next few floors.

After about an hour Daichi was in a much better and peaceful state of mind. He opened his eyes and stood. He was ready for battle.

'The next floor would have 5 enemies. But they would be much stronger. I doubt my clones would be able to distract them for long, much less beat them… Still. I have to try. Speed is my greatest advantage against power. There is also the option of using stat points. But I don't want to do that unless I absolutely have to.'

He created 4 clones and they made their way to the next floor. As Daichi entered the sixth floor of the castle he felt the presence of 5 powerful ninjas. His ears alerted him to the shurikens coming at his back. Daichi and his clones split up.

Due to Daichi training everyday and pushing himself, his stat points increased steadily. It was a slow but steady progress. Thus he was far stronger than someone of the same level.

The hidden ninjas appeared and the battle immediately began. Daichi and his clones extensively used the body flicker jutsu and due to the effects of several skills their speed was unmatched.

'Three of them are level 64 and two are 65.' Daichi analyzed his opponents and quickly attacked the one that showed the highest health and chakra.

The clones used ninjutsu and genjutsu and attacked their opponents from a distance while Daichi was in close combat with his foe. The clones used the body flicker jutsu to dodge attacks or keep their enemies in check while Daichi attacked and finished them off one by one.

Daichi slashed down vertically and sliced off an arm and jumped back to dodge the wild sword swing from his enemy. His hands blurred through several seals and he fired several small volleys of fast but powerful fire bullets.

[Enemy Killed.]

+1700 Exp.

+255 Exp.

[Enemies killed: 43/55]

[You have leveled up.]

'Yes! About time.' Thanks to the level up, Daichi's stamina was restored to almost 70%. At that moment another notification alerted him to the enemy coming from behind.

[Mental intrusion detected….]

[Unyielding spirit has neutralized the foreign attack.]

Daichi turned around and parried the short blade that was about to stab him. He then used telekinesis to shift the enemy's attack path and sent several fierce sword slashes.

With each battle Daichi was learning to fight different types of opponents and his experience grew faster than anyone could comprehend. Before long the battle on the 6the floor came to an end.

[Enemy Killed.]

+1700 Exp.

+255 Exp.

[Enemies killed: 45/55]

[You have cleared the sixth floor. You can now move to the seventh.]

Daichi meditated and once he fully recovered Daichi went to the seventh floor. The four enemies were of level 65 and 66.

Due to their speed and strength it took Daichi considerably longer to defeat his enemies. He was wounded several times and his health even dropped to less than 10%. It was only due to his multiple passive skills that increased his speed and the damage reduction skills that reduced the damage he took that he was able to hold on.

[Enemy Killed.]

+1850 Exp.

+277.5 Exp.

[Enemies killed: 49/55]

[You have cleared the seventh floor. You can now move to the eight.]

Even though he won the fight, his health, chakra, stamina and mana points were in the low double digits. Daichi bandaged his cuts and took out his bed. He fell asleep in seconds.

—-

[You have slept in a bed. HP, CP, SP and MP have been fully restored.]

Daichi's eyes opened and he slowly got up from the bed. "Ohh man. If I didn't have the gamer's body I don't think I could have lasted long fighting like this…"

Daichi thought about the power of the ninjas he just faced and after giving it some thought he decided to add 10 points each in his strength and agility stats.

'I don't like using points so early but if I don't, I might not make it out alive from the next 3 floors.'

With the stat points distributed Daichi made his way to the eight floor. He made 4 clones and walked up to the next floor. When he opened the door he saw three ninjas in heavy armor waiting for him at the opposite end of the room. They weren't hidden like the ninjas in the previous floors.

Daichi used 'observe' on them.

'It looks like they have a title. The Three Guardian Knights. And their levels are all 68. Their health is 7000 and chakra is 6700. And it looks like each of them specializes in one of the ninja arts.'

The three knights wore distinctive armor. Green, blue and red. The information on Daichi's observation showed that the Green armored ninja was a Taijutsu specialist, while the blue was a Ninjutsu and Red a Genjutsu master.

'I'll finish the red one first. Then the green one and save the blue for last. Genjutsu won't have any effect on me or my clones but I should finish him first. Then the Taijutsu master while my clones wear down the ninjutsu specialist.'

Daichi created the plan in mere moments after going through the information and the battle began.

[Mental intrusion detected….]

[Unyielding spirit has neutralized the foreign attack.]

Direct genjutsu attacks against Daichi were ineffective and Daichi didn't give the Red ninja a chance to figure him out. With the increase in speed and combined with the body flicker jutsu he was able to get behind his enemy in an instant.

Daichi thrust his sword but the Red ninja used substitution and escaped the attack. Daichi immediately sensed his enemy's new location and used a balance disruption Genjutsu. While the enemy was able to quickly negate the effect and escape, Daichi was already on him.

Using sword and dagger Daichi activated the dual mastery skill and with speed boost he sent several strikes in quick succession.

At that moment a wall suddenly sprang up behind him protecting him from a fire ball.

'I need to finish this guy quickly.'

The genjutsu ninja blocked a few strikes but several got past his defenses and reduced his health.

[Mental intrusion detected….]

[Unyielding spirit has neutralized the foreign attack.]

Daichi smirked as he saw the system message. 'Genjutsu won't help you against me.'

While the Red ninja was a master of the Genjutsu arts, his skills in the taijutsu and ninjutsu were only just a little above ordinary.

Thus Daichi was able to quickly finish off his first enemy on the eight floor and moved on to the taijutsu master.

3 of Daichi's clones concentrated on keeping the blue knight busy while the last one helped Daichi in restraining or distracting his green armored enemy. The clone used telekinesis, genjutsu and chakra strings to reduce the enemy's fighting capabilities. But even then it was a difficult battle.

'Damn! Even with my clone getting in his way he's still pushing me to my limits. If I hadn't increased my stats I'd probably be dead right now. I need an opening. Just one chance to turn the tides.'

Daichi evaded the fist to his head and sent one to his enemy's shoulder. It took some time but it was the opportunity Daichi needed to win. The strike took the opponent off balance and Daichi capitalized on it. His clone restrained the knight with shuriken wire while Daichi went through hand seals and coated his arms with rocks increasing his attack power.

Daichi fists were like a blur as he rammed into the restrained and struggling enemy. The fast attacks were precise and aimed at specific parts of the body to keep the green knight from fighting back. Once Daichi reduced the health to a little over 300 he jumped back and at that moment his clone sent a fire dragon jutsu that engulfed the knight. Daichi joined his clone and used the earth dragon bomb jutsu and the combined attacks finished the second knight.

At that moment he received memories of his two clones fighting the blue ninja. And it gave him a surprise.

'He can use shadow clones?'

Daichi and his remaining clone turned to face the blue knights. There were three of them.

'Earth style - Mud wall.'

Daichi's clone created a stone wall defense while Daichi created two new clones.

Daichi used mud river jutsu to destabilize the floor near the knights. Daichi and his clones attacked with everything they had but the knights were able to defend themselves. Daichi rushed to one of the enemies and began fighting in hand to hand combat.

Realizing that the one he's fighting was the real one, Daichi's clones used Genjutsu to distract and chakra strings to slow down his movements. Daichi didn't let him use any ninjutsu attacks and after several powerful strikes, the battle soon came to an end. The moment Daichi defeated the real one, the clones also disappeared.

[Enemy Killed.]

+2000 Exp.

+300 Exp.

[Enemies killed: 52/55]

[You have cleared the eight floor. You can now move to the ninth.]

While Daichi didn't receive any life threatening wounds, his chakra and stamina and mana was almost completely drained.

Daichi was breathing hard. The mental and physical fatigue he accumulated throughout the fight left him completely exhausted. Daichi laid down on the ground and took several long gulps of air.

'Even with the stat increase, It took everything I had to win… If I fight without adding some more points I'll definitely lose on the next floor.'

This was the conclusion Daichi came to after thoroughly analyzing the strength of all the fighters he faced till now.

Daichi took his bed and quickly fell asleep. When he woke up he added another 10 points to strength and agility stats. Daichi used a total of 40 points to increase his speed and strength but he felt that it was necessary.

Daichi created 3 clones and headed to the ninth floor. He was about to push the doors open when they opened on their own.

'What the?... That hasn't happened before!'

Daichi looked at the two armored ninjas standing in the middle of the vast empty floor. One was wearing a black armor while the other had a snow white one. From head to toe they were covered in protective steel. Their most noticeable feature was the blue flaming ember burning from their eyes.

'Observe'

[69] General - WHITE

HP: 7500 CP: 7000

[One of the twin generals that protects the ninth floor. Prefers speed over power.]

[69] General - BLACK

HP: 7500 CP: 7000

[One of the twin generals that protects the ninth floor. Prefers power over speed.]

'This is going to be tricky.'

Author’s Note:

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