On the eleventh floor, I sat on my mechanical bull, and wrote in my journal to pass the time.

I was, currently, designing a new magic circle. This one would take into account the magic spells that I knew, all of them, and allow me to cast them with a thought, instead of a chant.

I would accomplish this by having an audio file with my entire chant, and attaching it to my Magic Circle Orb. To aid in this, I had gotten a recording crystal from Loki, and was speaking my chants into the Orb clearly, and with no inflection.

I'd finished them all, and so I covered it with the liquid magic stone I had melted, letting my Mystery Ability activate as I shaped and molded it. Then, my Mystery still activated, and my pen glowing blue, I carved the Magic Circle into the new stone.

While I carved, I enchanted it with one of Riviera's abilities, which regenerated Mana automatically, as well as the ability to absorb hostile or latent magic, and use that magic to power the spells, instead of my own.

Lastly, I set each spell into a set of nodes, and an infinite spinning wheel that selected them.

They would be simultaneously cast from each of the 18 individual circles in my design, which meant 18x the Drain, but 18x the raw destructive power.

I smiled and gripped it in my fist, looking at the group of monsters we were currently slaughtering.

I whistled loudly, and grinned when they saw my magic circle, and retreated behind me. I calmly selected my Fulminate, and, without speaking a word, cast it.

The tunnel in front of me was completely immolated as 18 different bolts of lightning rammed into individual monsters, and then exploded violently, spreading like a plague down the tunnel for a little bit, but stopped just before it went out of my sight.

I grinned and then dropped at the massive drain of Mana, sitting down heavily. My magic circle disappeared, and I laughed. "That... was awesome." I grinned at Riviera, who was at the back, providing support and healing.

She raised an eyebrow. "You didn't chant."

"Nope." I shook my head.

Her brows furrowed delicately, and I leaned back to get some well-earned rest, as the supporters got to work collecting the scorched Magic Stones.

---

After a short rest, I got back to work, and worked on my magic even more.

'Wide-area destruction magic is fine and all, but that doesn't help me if being attacked...' I tinkered a bit, and grinned, casting an Aegis as well as a Fulminate, zapping a random monster and also making a massive, seven layered lotus shield in front of myself, and the party in general.

I shrank it slowly, and then shattered it, nodding. 'Simultaneous casting is possible... hmm...' I tested whether or not I could send out several different types of attack magic, all focused on one target, or staggered, and found that it was possible.

Without the constraints of Chanting, magic had opened up to a completely new realm of power, though they still drained just as much Mana, no way around that.

'Then again... Riviera can cast different levels of the same spell, and each one costs just a little more mana, or so she said... what if I staggered my Elemental attacks, so they could cast at different levels of power? The magic would still be powerful, and drain me, but it would be a much quicker selection process wouldn't it?'

I separated every magical spell I knew into three categories, (Air-Water, Fire-Earth, Light-Dark,) with healing and shielding spells in the Light Portion.

Enchantments were sorted into the Dark, as 'Curses'. Then, once finished with that part, I set each of them into levels according to strength and usefulness, and moved them to their own circles.

I cast an Inflammare, and then increased it to a Fulminate without missing a beat, and then into an Explosion-type magic, which destroyed many monsters, whilst shielding all of the adventurers in our group simultaneously.

I grinned, and leaned back, cold as ice. Johnny handed me a small test tube, and nodded. "Drink up." He said simply.

I tossed it back, shrugging, and nearly gagged at the unnecessary sweetness, the I paused. The magic in my body was quickly replenished, and I felt warm again. I hummed and thanked him, then continued my experiments.

---

The 13th floor, the Misty Floor, was an interesting proving ground for my water magics.

Every time a monster appeared, I would gather the water in the air, and make icicles, then snipe the monsters to death, with almost no magic at all.

As we went further, we encountered stronger foes, but they posed no threat to our group, which, (besides Johnny and Lefiya,), was made up of Lvl 4's or above.

---

"Why aren't you physically attacking any of the monsters?" Finn asked as we made camp in the 17th floor. Our group was tasked with killing Goliath, so the others could pass comfortably.

"Loki ordered me to make my magic skill increase, because my Strength and Defense are massively unbalanced. My STR and DEF are both on Lvl 4-S level, while everything else is still on Lvl 4 H-F." I explained.

He nodded. "Ah. Unbalanced stats, huh? That happens sometimes. You want a crack at Goliath to get some skill points? Use your weapon, magic, and agility to take him down, and you might get some noticeable progress." He offered.

I nodded. "Sounds good." I said, and started a small lava fire, then leaned back for some sleep.

---

I stepped into the room with Goliath slowly, eying him. He stood almost 30 meters tall, with pale skin and black hair. I could see his muscles twitch as he woke up, and noticed me.

He roared, and I drew my sword, breathing deeply to calm myself. I gripped my magic stone in the other hand, and grew my shield, then activated both parts of the Goliath Skill.

As he started sprinting towards me, I charged as well. Once he was in range, he swung at me, his fist the size of the Bull I'd rode here. I leapt onto his hand, and simply kept moving.

My sword trailed behind me, cutting through his skin like paper, as I had the main juggernaut skill still activated, leaving my DEX where it was supposed to be.

Once I reached his shoulder, I flipped, digging my sword completely through the joint, making it useless. Then I leapt off to avoid his other hand, and once in the ground, I darted over and slit his Achilles' tendons.

I retreated out of the reach of his one good arm, and then sprinted in for a kill-shot. I dodged his hand, and leapt up to his throat, cutting as deeply as my sword would go.

He howled in pain, and on the way down, I sliced the skin of his chest, hitting the magic stone.

He dissolved as I landed on the floor, and I spread my hands victoriously... just as the magic stone and Goliath Leather drop items landed on my back, slamming me to the floor.

I growled at the group's chuckles, and found my way out of the tarp-sized leather. I nodded and began rolling it, and once I had it all as one big roll, I set it on top of the Cage, with the Magic Stone next to it.

"Anyone up for going to a resort?" I quipped, and Finn led the way.

---

My first view of the Under Resort, Floor 18, was of a sunlit area, filled with trees and fruits I'd never seen. In the distance, I could smell and hear a town of some sort.

Finn picked a spot, not too far from the entrance, and we began making the Camp. We would stay here for 3 days, collecting all of the familia and people with us, then head down again, full force.

I was confused by the Tents make-up, as it seemed just a bundle of sticks to me, not very structurally sound, and Johnny noticed. He showed me how to build it swiftly, making sure my eyes followed every important movement, and after that, I was putting them up just as swiftly as he did.

I started my Lava Fires in place of camp fires, and then sat down with my art journal, drawing everything around us. I filled almost fifty pages with just the forest. I found new fruit trees, odd insects, small monsters that seemed to be vaguely symbiotic with the trees and insects, and then I simply drew the crystals around us.

They were fabulously detailed, and I took a sample, so I could inspect its chemical make-up. Upon investigation, I discovered it to be a collection of Magnesium, Tungsten, Sodium, and SiO2, basic Quartz. (Silicon and Oxygen.) the 'Magic' acted as an electrical stimulant, making the crystals glow a yellowish light.

I hummed and replaced the Sodium with Iron, and the light turned nearly Infrared, and blood-hued.

"What are you doing to that stone?" Riviera asked.

"I am altering its Chemical Makeup... I replaced Sodium with Iron, and changed the color... and now I will replace the Quartz with a different base... perhaps Diamonds?" I hummed and did it, leaning back as it glared with heat, because of the Magnesium and Iron reacting on a chemical level, and no longer held stable by the Quartz.

I tossed it into the air, throwing a Aegis over the camp, just as it exploded violently, like a half-pound of C-4. I hummed, dropping the shield. "That could be useful." I said simply.

She blinked and sat down across from me slowly. "I'd like to know where you learned these things? I know only a little about the true forms of Elements, and I studied under the premiere Alchemists of the realm."

I chuckled. "Then your Premiere Alchemists were Fops. Frauds. Any chemist, not even an Alchemist, from Midgard, hell, children in common core schooling, are all forced to learn the Table of Elements and basic chemistry as a require course. I studied even further than that."

She blinked slowly. "I see... so, while your realm did not have magic, they mastered Science, instead?"

"Well, mastered, I wouldn't say that... To master something, you must know everything there is to know about it. We're still learning new science everyday." I hummed.

She nodded. "I see... then I would ask that you teach it to our Alchemists when we return from this Expedition. No doubt the world would benefit greatly from your knowledge."

"Or use it for even more advanced warfare, like Midgard. I don't think so. This world is doing just fine without my interference." I shook my head.

She blinked, confused.

"War isn't fought with swords anymore in Midgard, Miss Riviera. It is fought with weapons of mass destruction that no man could defend himself from on his own. I like this world's war. It is something that is Equal. You have an equal chance of winning or dying. No uneven odds. Not many unfair advantages." I explained as abstractly as possible.

She nodded slowly. "I understand that, at least. Your War got too... unbalanced. But even so, what about medicine?"

"No, your medicine is much more efficient. Magical healing is much better than our medicine... though we've done well without magic." I shook my head.

"I see. Then I will not press further on the issue." She bowed her head a bit, and stood up to leave.

"You don't have to leave. I don't object to your company." I said simply.

She glanced at me, and then sat down. "I apologize, I thought you were dismissing me."

I chuckled softly. "No. You're the wisest person I can speak to here, that I've seen. I value wisdom, and enjoy speaking to intellectual people."

She smirked a little. "I see. Thank you for sharing your opinion of me."

"Of course..." I nodded, and went back to tinkering with my crystals.