Chapter 129 12th floor exploration Part 2

『Amazing, I can feel power overflowing me.』

Now, I’ve got it to S rank. On the other hand, my level didn’t change at all.

That’s because I essentially didn’t defeat the mudmen.

「Noname, I’m about to break the wall. 」

I take a big swing with Noname at the wall through which I slipped earlier.

*BOOM*

With a loud but short bang, the wall crumbled into small pieces.

Nice, a huge success! I promptly get outside of the room and advance further.

『Hey, they are still alive!』

「It’s fine. There is no end to dealing with those guys.」

Noname seemed dissatisfied with that as it kept grumbling, but I ignored it. After walking for a bit, I take a look behind me. They aren’t chasing. Could it be that they can’t leave that room?

Well, works for me.

I advance, walking in the center of the passage.

Don’t want any hands to grab me like earlier.

Now, here, the way splits into three.

Strange voices come from every passage.

Something akin to groans. Something animalistic. Excessively high-pitched shrieks.

『Looks like there are a lot of enemies no matter where we go! How exciting!』

「Personally, I’m more nervous…」

Unlike you, I feel a lot more anxiety.

Do I have to choose one? In the first place, there is no guarantee that this is the right way.

『Hurry up! Just take the middle one!』

「Okay, okay.」

Obeying Noname I go into the middle path. The path was comparatively bright, so the visibility wasn’t bad.

And just when I thought that there was nothing there, a beast came running?!

「RARRRR!」

Brown bear? No, it’s obvious that it’s not a common bear.

It is running on four legs, but it had another arm on it’s back.

A brown bear is fast despite its huge size. A lot faster than a human. And the same was true of this monster.

It closed the distance before I could attack with magic.

A thick arm covered in fur. It comes down at a blinding speed.

A human’s face or skin is a feeble thing. A mere scratch from a bear’s claws and they can get terribly shredded.

And this one is multiple times stronger than a bear.

Taking a super safe approach I didn’t try to block it with a sword and rolled away instead.

I immediately took its back and attempted to slash at itーー But the third arm promptly moved, clawing at my arm.

For now, I’ll back off.

I was bleeding, but the wound wasn’t that deep. It was my blunder since I attacked it carelessly out of habit.

『Whoa, isn’t this a good opponent?』

Yes, since it had its back covered it could charge with abandon. It’s plainly strong.

Then, I use 【Magic Fusion】to combine【Stone Bullet】and 【White Flame】, shooting the spell at the bear.

Flame-wrapped stone hits the monster. There is damage from the stone itself and also it’s fur caught fire.

This fire is pretty tenacious.

Unable to withstand the heat, the monster runs around, slamming into the walls of the pathway. Now I just have to wait and it will be my victory.

『ーCut it! USE ME!!!』

「I can win by waiting.」

『Don’t screw with me, there is no point if you won’t slash it. Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash.』

Ugh, annoying. However, I felt a strange pressure with the abnormal fashion in which the sword screamed.

Well, I can make the sword stronger, so seeing a chance I slashed at it.

Getting it right in the neck, I quickly put the end to the battle.

Appraising Noname showed that it learned【Blazing Blade】.

It really gets stronger and stronger.

【Blazing Blade】depends on the user. It creates flame by using the magic power of the person grasping the handle.

One thought is enough to set the thing on fire, so it’s quite powerful.

『Good going. You are the best partner, Noir.』

「Thought I’d prefer if you didn’t yell so much.」

『Sorry about the earlier. But the more enemies we kill the easier things get for you as well, right?』

Sound reasonable.

I also have nothing against making it stronger. It’s merely that I don’t want to go through danger to do that.

Now, this path is a dead end.

Turning back I take another one.

There was one humanoid monster, but it was a small fry and died instantly.

This is also a dead end, so I take the last remaining path.

There was a red raven that made a piercing shriek. The level is about 50, no special skills.

It only flies around, trying to peck me. Engulfing the sword in flames I tried to counterattack, but it’s unexpectedly good at evading.

And it also tries to escape, probably realizing it cannot win.

『Just hitting it is enough! Throw me.』

「Roger.」

I throw the flaming sword at the flying raven.

I messed up a bit with my throw, so the sword is spinning like crazy.

Even so, it slashed raven’s wings.

The power of ignition was amazing, soon turning both raven’s wings and its body into a burnt corpse. Noname, sensing the changes, says.

『I feel… Like I became stronger… Again.』

He’s right. It learned【Slashing Wave】.

This one also uses the wielder’s magic, but to emit a cutting wave of wind.

I try it as a test. Matching timing with my swing I use the skill.

By adjusting the magic power it’s possible to control the strength of the skill. The weak one is about five meters. And the strong one can go up to ten meters.

It seems quite useful. Since as long as I have magic power I can one-sidedly attack from a distance.

Ability-wise this is quite a progress.

But the same couldn’t be said about the exploration of this floor. This path also led to a dead end.

「Which means we have to go back to the first fork.」

Sadly, this whole path was a miss. Returning to the first split I take the other one.

In structure, this one seems quite similar. The path once again split in three.

On top of that, the enemies there were absolutely the same.

Attacking them from a distance with【Slashing Wave】I defeat them with ease. There is a question of being used to them, but the combat itself was quite easy.

But to think that they all would end in dead-ends as well is a bit of a blow.

「Does it mean that there is a hidden stairway somewhere?」

『Probably so. Though I’d be happy if there are stronger enemies.』

I walk, lightly hitting walls with the tip of my sword.

*Thud, thud, thud, thud, cling, cling*

There is a spot where the sound is clearly different. I destroy that wall with the sword.

The walls of this floor aren’t that thick. With the power of the skills, they can be broken quite easily.

I peek inside through the newly made hole.

Behind that was something akin to a stone pedestal with a wooden sign beside it.

Nothing aside from that. No signs of life. Vigilant of possible traps, I step inside.

Put grown weapon onto the pedestal, is what was written there.

「Is it about Noname?」

『I guess.』

「But I don’t see any stairs.」

『Won’t they pop-up once you place me there?』

It’s possible. The rectangular pedestal easily had enough space to place one weapon on it.

There weren’t any other suspicious areas, so as an experiment I put Noname on it.

『Oh, it looks like it’s a pass. Bye.』

「Eh?」

Immediately following Noname’s parting words the sword sunk into the pedestal.

It was absorbed? Then, without giving me even a moment to collect myself, a wall opened on the other side of the room.

Parting to left and right it revealed a pathway behind it.

At the end of that passage was the stairway to the lower floor.

「So I cleared it……? But Noname……」

And I went through all those troubles to make him stronger.

No, if he didn’t get that strong, the path might not have opened. A weapon is probably evaluated upon placing on that platform. So if it didn’t become strong enough the wall wouldn’t open.

There were reviving enemies like Mudmen, so this floor was probably only meant to make a weapon stronger.

Ugh…… I can’t help but have a bad feeling about this.

With uneasiness, I climb down the stairs.

Iron walls and ceiling. A straight one-way path. The passage was dim, but the bright light can be seen at its end.

I suppose there is a spacious area.

Is it an arena? I can feel sounds like those of a crowd.

Of course, the possibility of those coming from actual humans is extremely low.

「I guess I’ll stop here for today.」

I’m tired, so let’s not overextend.

Returning with the skill to the first floor, I leave the dungeon.