Chapter 21: THE 66TH FLOOR
"Ah, my items." Having made it beyond the Behemoth, Ivan rested in the stairwell between the 65th floor to the 66th floor. He just remembered that his backpack full of his other supplies was back on the 64th floor.
He contemplated going through the 65th floor again before ultimately deciding against it. All he knew is that when he beat this dungeon and was stronger he'd come back and make that thing pay for his losses.
But right now he had to solve his current problem. Ivan was currently in uncharted territory without any food or water left besides his blood. Sure he could use the liquid from his other potions and elixirs but he wasn't confident in extracting the water without any of the effects.
He could only imagine the embarrassment if he extracted the water from a paralysis potion only to end up paralyzed. In any case he'll go ahead and do that if he was left with no other options.
Now that left food. As animalistic as the monsters in the Great Orcus Labyrinth seemed, any human that consumed them will instead suffer from its poisonous and lethal properties.
If Ivan was going to find something to eat, he was better off eating the bugs off the floor or scrounging the future floors for any edible vegetation. In his heart he prayed for a habitat similar to the desert he happened upon on the 45th floor.
Getting up from the stair he was resting on, Ivan dusted off his clothing and decided he would need to start anew from here on out. He would need to transmute new clothing, a new backpack, and tools if he was going to make it to the 100th floor safely.
Once he made it to what he believed to be the end, he hoped the creator of the dungeon would at least be generous enough to leave some sort of exit back to the surface. At least that way he could go shopping for new supplies.
".....But with what money?"
Deciding he would just sell some mana crystals he found along the way, Ivan pushed down his worries.
If anything the materials he'd find in these uncharted floors would probably sell really well on the surface. Of course if they asked him where he got them he'd have to answer with anything other than the truth, not that anyone would believe him
The stairwell was protected by the same magic that made it impossible for people to dig from floor to floor. Ivan sighed at his luck before removing his palms from its surface. He wanted to at least make a weapon or tool before he faced the creatures on the 66th floor.
If they awaited him right at the door then he would have no other choice than to run to the 65th floor. He was out of healing potions and the blood he lost would only put him in a disadvantage.
Looking at his wrapped wound, Ivan laughed softly as he remembered how afraid he was of freezing it shut. And sure enough it was cold as hell but it bought him enough time to rip some of his clothing and make an improvised bandage.
A dagger in one hand and a charged gauntlet in the other, Ivan readied himself for an attack as he descended the stairs towards the grand double door entrance.
CREAK
He peered his head through the open double doors to check if there were any monsters nearby.
Instead what greeted him was the scene of a thriving and vibrant jungle. At least that was what he was going to call it.
Vibrant green trees that reached for the sky, vines that drape over and touch the floor, foliage that made it hard to see past 20 meters. But what caught Ivan's attention the most were the brown fruits hanging from the treetops.
Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, Ivan inched forward into this new level. He stared at the beautiful ceiling lined with hundreds and hundreds of green glow stones that illuminated the level.
Directing his gaze back at the fruits, Ivan walked forward until he reached the base of the tree. Then putting his hands to the floor, a bright flash happened before the ground beneath him rose in elevation.
All was going well, he was ascending closer to the fruits, and he had yet to be attacked.
WHOOOOSH!
That's when a figure flew by his face and snatched the brown fruits that were right before him.
'So fast!' Ivan, despite being right in front of it, only saw a blur fly right past him. Unable to discern what the creature looked like he dove back to the ground surface.
Whatever it was he could see that it was jumping from tree to tree as before he descended he saw claw marks left in the same position he saw the blur.
Hearing the shaking of the trees, Ivan looked around for a moment before manifesting his Hands of Mana to transmute the ground beneath him.
The earth warped and molded to form a dome around him as he turned each moment he heard the rustling from a different position.
From what he could hear, the presumed monster was inching closer and closer to him, swinging tree to tree.
It wasn't until the dome was completely formed that he heard the noise of it right in front of him.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ivan readied his heart as he listened to the sounds of his only protection being thrashed from the outside.
'Out of the frying pan and into the fire huh…' Ivan laminated the situation of events before blaming his bad luck.
But then, the noises stopped. The rustling of the trees grew distant as the area was engulfed by pure silence.
"Phew…" Ivan sighed in relief as he opened his dome to escape. He had barely entered the 66th floor and he was already attacked by something he could barely see. He took a moment to observe his surroundings before coming to a conclusion.
Ivan hadn't been deep into the floor and yet he could tell the area he was in was particularly rich in materials. As for why, he imagined it could be that whatever attacked him saw no reason to traverse to where he was.
Hell as far as it was concerned it probably didn't know or forgot that there was even a door here.
With that in mind, why did it decide to approach the fruit he was headed for rather than the abundance surrounding the area? Ivan spotted another tree bearing fruit before making his way towards it.
But this time rather than reach the same elevation as the fruit he rested his palms on the side of the tree, sparks came from his hand as the tree warped down and brought the fruits down to his level.
He looked around for a moment, no movement. He reached for the fruit, no movement. He ripped it from the tree, no movement. And finally he inserted it into his mouth, nothing happened.
Savoring its flavor, Ivan came to another conclusion. Once again, he rested his palms on the floor and as sparks flew the ground beneath him rose.
1 meter into the air….. 5 meters….8 meters…10 meters into the air-!
Ivan stopped ascending as the rustling that had previously disappeared became louder in his ears.
Whatever the beast was, it was hurling straight at him, and it seemed pissed.
Ivan made another dive for the ground, once again forming a protective dome against himself.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Compared to the last time, the banging became more erratic and frequent. Ivan listened carefully as he caught the sound of deep heavy breathing from the outside of the dome.
And similar to the last encounter, once the beast vented its frustrations it took off as swiftly as it arrived.
'Hm? I think I know what I must do...' Holding a fruit in his left hand, Ivan stared at it intently before imbuing his gauntlet with mana.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Apgor were a group of intelligent beasts that lived and thrived in the environment of the 66th floor.
Swinging vine to vine, tree from tree, it reigned supreme in this jungle with its speed and intellect. Hundreds of years of evolution went into making them into what they believed to be, 'The Kings of the Forest.'
But of course with no competition that title only served to grow onto their already born arrogance.
"Hihihihihih!" Despite being incapable of speech they did possess emotions such as pleasure, and as such they found the greatest pleasure in watching the inhabitants of the forest crawl beneath them.
Anger, lust, hunger, they took out all of their emotions onto whatever dared to reach the same height as them.
Everything was as usual until they felt a disturbance in the forest.
"Hooohohoh-!" Noticing the disturbance, one of the Apgors turned to its compatriot.
"Gihhihihi~!" The Apgor responded with equal enthusiasm
It had seemed something dared to reach for its sky
"Rahahahah!" Laughing in anger the former Apgor beat its chest as it called for the rest of its group.
In a few minutes there totaled up to be a group of 8. Yes, this was the full number of its forces.
With a stick in one hand, the four-armed ape sat upon a throne above the others. Nodding as if satisfied with its compatriots' fealty, it arose from its seat and howled loudly into the air.
"AWWWWOOOOOOO!!!"
This was the third time that something dared reach for the sky, as such it was great disrespect that whatever it was continued to live in its jungle.
Beating its chest and hollering, the rest of the Apgor's understood its message as they all dashed in a single direction, seeking to destroy whatever dared disrespect their king.
Closer and closer, they approached the source of the disturbance. With their insane inborn speed it was only a matter of minutes before they reached one end of the forest to the other.
"Guuuh?"
Looking around in confusement, the Apgors only rubbed their heads as when they arrived at the scene there were no other life forms other than themselves.
Instead the only thing noticeable to the Apgors was a mountain of fruits, stacked neatly in a pyramid basking under the rare rays of light that made it past the tree's leaves.
They approached the pyramid of fruits, neglecting to wipe the drool salivating from their lips. Climbing the hill up to the pyramid, the rumbling of their bellies grew louder and louder.
It was a fruit abundant in the forest even for their group, and yet the presentation and the different ways they were cut and diced screamed enticing in their minds.
So step by step, they made their way to the fruit until they stood right before it. And as if coming to a prior agreement, they all reached for the stack at the same time.
"Got ya! You damn apes!"
A loud yell erupted from the ground beneath them as the fruits they each held in their hand started sparking with electricity. And then….
KABOOOM!
Scalding hot water erupted from the fruits and entered their eyes. The Apgors were thrown into a panic as they stumbled about attempting to rub the water in their eyes out.
But even that was useless as the earlier yelling figure burrowed out from the hill and revealed himself, and with two more fruit in his hands Ivan threw them at the apes and charged forwards, his gauntlets ready to melt or freeze whatever it touched.
Ivan grinned wickedly as he held the head of an Apgor in each hand, perfectly masked by the fruits he had thrown earlier that erupted into thick clouds of vapor.
The Apgor in his left hand lost all signs of color as it dangled lifelessly in the air, the Apgor in his right hand started radiating steam as blood leaked from all of its orifices.
'Two down….. Five to go!' Withdrawing more fruits from his satchel, Ivan threw them into the air as they exploded into water and sent high-pressure water slashes towards his next two victims.
SLICE!
The heads of two Apgors flew into the air as they had failed to dodge in their moments of blindness.
'That leaves three! Grabbing the corpse of the Agor he boiled in his hand, Ivan withdrew his arm and formed a spear made of its blood from its body.
And with reckless abandon, charged forward to meet his fifth victim.
The head of the fifth Apgor was pierced as it laid on the ground attempting to wash out the hot water with dirt.
'Two more!' Ivan inched towards the remaining Apgors.
"Uahahah!" One of them yelled loudly as it dove into the forest while rubbing its eyes, the Apgor that remained at a loss awoke from its stupor and followed after.
Ivan looked back at the carnage that ensued in the past five seconds before transmuting footholds from the trees to catch up to the escaping Apgors. He had no idea where they were heading but the last thing he wanted was to lose the element of surprise.
Lucky enough for him the speed of the escaping Apgors had become severely reduced as they hesitated to jump tree to tree in fear of colliding face first.
Ivan closed in quickly to the Apgor lagging behind. He threw a fruit at it before it transmuted mid air into another high-pressure slash.
SLICE!
The right leg of the Apgor severed from its body as it lost balance in the air and dove head first into the ground beneath it.
Seeing that his attack worked Ivan jumped from atop the trees with his spear in hand and stabbed at the wounded Apgor.
POKE!
And just like that only one enemy remained. Ivan climbed back on the trees and pursued his last victim, only this time the Apgor that had seen its compatriot's death elected to not travel in a straight path, making it difficult for Ivan to hit it with water.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The scenery changed and Ivan found himself at the entrance of some cave, in front of him was the fleeing Apgor, desperately running to warn its King to escape.
Seeing the opportunity to attack, Ivan followed the Apgor into the point where it stood before large double doors. He allowed the Apgor to push open the doors before arching the spear made of blood over his shoulder.
Then, spreading his stance and bending his knees, Ivan threw the spear with all of his might.
BANG!
The Apgor that had been erratically breathing up until this point halted its steps, instead looking down at the spear that mysteriously protruded from its chest.
And then, it slumped over lifelessly onto the ground
THUD
SHING!
Withdrawing the spear from the Apgor's back, Ivan held it to his side and looked at the scene in front of him.
A red carpet that spanned for meters, a throne adorned with beautiful jewels, and another Apgor that would've looked similar to its compatriots if not for the distractingly large gut hanging from it.
He stared at the crown on its head before taking a step forwards.
"Hoogo!" The stupefied Apgor jumped back in its throne as it awoke from the earlier scene.
DOKI
DOKI
DOKI
Each step Ivan made only amplified the terror it felt in its heart.
"Nice place you got here, I'll be taking it if you don't mind." With those final words, Ivan jabbed his spear of blood into the head of the petrified Apgor.
Effectively killing it.
"Phew, I'm glad that's over with." Wiping the sweat from his brow, Ivan shoved the Apgor off the throne before taking a seat.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment.
"Alright, it's time to get to work." Getting off the throne, Ivan stretched his arms and made his way back to the area he killed the first few Apgors.
There was still work to be done after all!
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I know I say this like every other chapter, but I really liked this one.
Anyways expect another time skip in the next chapter, It'll most likely be a fairly long chapter.
.....Even though this one is already a long one.
The first floor of the true dungeon is supposed to be way more difficult than anything in the former dungeon, so please bear with me as I try to figure out how to scale this.
But hey thanks for reading once again and I'll see you all real soon! Have a great day/night!
If you want to support me and read ahead 10-15 chapters, you can check out my p.a.t.r.e.o.n right here: https://bit.ly/ardoaleister
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