Chapter 36 – Floor 1 – Month’s End

35 days had passed since the party had entered Floor 0 of the dungeon. According to Ziphe, there was still at least 105 days at the least left in the First Floor. All 12 months of the year had 35 days in the month, and seasons were almost non-existent in Ryko. Ziphe had previously announced the voyage would last a few months, much to the dismay of the seasick members including Duchess, Utone, and Ecnelis.

Some members fell into a routine of training including Clico, Omira, as well as the other lower ranking members who had nothing to do. Other members who ran the ship, including the high-ranking council members and the Gatekeepers, worked around the clock in various shifts. Although most of the party had things to do, a few stragglers did nothing at all. The High Priest Vladimir complained incessantly to his handlers about how long the First Floor was taking while Trike, Clico's roommate, lay in bed the entire month.

Meanwhile, 21 had taken a pair of devout followers. The other two prophets, Wandering Sages Do and Mo guarded 21 religiously as bodyguards. These two bounty hunters thought 21 was a genius. Although they ranked on 21's hero list as much stronger than 21 himself, the normally stoic and serious duo stuck to 21 like glue, attending to his flippant whims eagerly.

Clico was starting to agree with the Omira's qualms with 21. Although the rankings appeared accurate, Clico felt insecure in his abilities, and Clico and Omira has secretly been working on a joint ability inspired by Mo and Do's duo style skills. In their training, they invented a summoner skill used to control Omira like a puppet while boosting both of their auras substantially. The base aura rankings by 21 were indeed true, but when Clico and Omira were allowed to fight together, their combined aura capacity rose to the level of a D rank King.

Clico's history with Lavilin was the underlying reason behind Omira's trust in Clico. Omira had been on Floor 0 on the day of the Dungeon Break and had witnessed the dramatic entrance of Lavilin firsthand. The rest of their party had been split between the sub-groups, but she and Clico were still together. She hoped the rest of their friends could survive to the designated floors but heavily distrusted 21's dungeon navigation plan.

Her entire goal of entering the dungeon was shrouded in mystery; Clico wondered why Omira was so private.

"Why and how was she able to leave the dungeon when it broke?"

"Why did her administrator send her to stop the Shade War?"

"How much of the Dungeon did she really remember?"

Clico often asked himself these questions. Although he trusted her; she was an enigma. The multiple souls within her Shade Core constantly clashed, creating mood swings that influenced her main persona, Omira. It was even unknown if Omira herself was the original propagator of the Shade or if the persona was the newly born soul that came from the mixture of monsters and people from within the dungeon. Regardless, they killed time together perfecting their strategies. With their progression, the two's shared skill, Shade Summon, was coming along nicely.

***

Another month passed by, uneventfully for most. The poor Control Room crewmates of the Labyrinthian were bored out of their minds. Realeh, being the weakest of the bunch occasionally fell asleep on the job while on duty in the Hospital Bay. Groth, the resident tanker of the Gatekeepers and personal bodyguard of Tyermsy, stayed up late into the nights with the least amount of sleep, watching the security tapes. Of everyone who needs to sleep, Groth slept the least.

The Royalty Realm Dukes from the Gatekeeper faction, Ciphe and Elos, fought with each other constantly to the annoyance of Tyermsy and Ziphe. They wanted to prove themselves as candidates for the next leader of the Gatekeepers and tried to outdo one another at every turn. Although they were adjacent to the Control Room, their arguing was excessively loud. To save Aura Credits, the duo used their own aura to power the Engine Room.

Aura Credits were the universal form of currency around Ryko. Energy was formed using aura and condensed into a small round shining battery-like discs. They resembled coins but larger, and they were extremely difficult to create. Aura refineries could create Aura Credits, or Royalty and Deities could form them using magic through a complex process. This was part of the reason Royalty held so much power in a country; their ability to create or process Aura Credits was invaluable for keeping their country running economically and militarily.

For most people, Aura Credits were used to power their lives as a currency, and they also had the practical purpose of powering the homes as well as a source of aura to absorb or store in the long term. After exhausting your aura, Aura Credits were one way to replenish reserves without long periods of resting. Runic mages, especially, relied on Aura Credits as a way to power the Runic Instruments they used to inscribe runic symbols, scrolls, and mechanisms. Because they were hard to carry around, aura credit cards were often the main way to transfer funds though a bank or business like the Ryko Corporation.

Organizations like Ryko Corp, the Seven Paths Church and the Gatekeepers, as well as the countries like Pyrite, Phanec, Galeon, and Agate helped to pay for the extravagant equipment reserved for the expedition through Aura Credits. Because scarcity and demand are always high for Aura Credits, the tournament itself was not just an extensive interview process for the members of the expedition but also a fundraiser for aura credits.

The consequences of failing to conquer Hell were high. Along with the fundraising and backing of many important entities, various loans were taken out from neutral parties and smaller countries as well. If the party ended up like the last one, led by the former Wizard King Locke, Ziphe would likely be unable to pay back his debts.

If 21 was really a fraud, Ziphe and the High Council would be the biggest loser of the entire situation, losing credibility, fortune, and power. Ziphe was under huge pressure, but he led the control room methodically for over 70 days.

***

Three more months passed slowly and painfully. Clico and Omira stared at each other in boredom, unable to make any more progress in their training. Their new summoner skill was perfected, and both of them were hesitant to try to use a new skill from a magical path they didn't know. It took months starting in the Selection to perfect their skill, Shade Summon. The Seven Paths were difficult to understand, but a hierarchy was apparent as they grew in aura.

The Natural Path provided the fastest and normally easiest way to obtain aura. Absorbing the forces of nature to enhance the body would allow beings of superior constitutions an easy way to become strong, but the path ended with the latent ability of the vessel for the most part.

Shade and Spirit magic was generally fast to train as well but came at higher risks. Connecting with a soul through natural or unnatural means exposed the soul and vessel to abnormalities that could end up crippling the person. Without supplements like a runic specialist or a doctor, it wasn't worth the risk in the long term.

Runic specialists like Clico had potential in the long run, but the expensive resources needed for the Runic Path, as well as the Scientific Path, made it implausible for short term advancements. In aura credits alone, the runic and scientific paths were the most expensive. Without funding, you couldn't progress.

Summoners could train their coordination with their summons, but Clico and Omira's summoning technique was long perfected, and their synergy was superb. Unless they roped in more summons, their skill's potential was capped.

The Authority Path, however, was the most unique of the aura paths. Authority path users placed aura limitations or rules on themselves and the world around them to increase their aura, at a cost. For example, a skill like Cheptah's Absorption Wall was a tank-based Authority Skill. Cheptah could absorb and store aura that he was attacked with and reflect it back at the opponent. His limitation was that he could not keep the aura reflected and could only use it within his Aura Realm, making him invincible against similarly ranked sages but useless in front of higher ranked people. The Authority Path acted as an intermediary between the user's imagination and its impact on the environment around them.

Ultimately, Authority Skills were the most effective path at the higher aura realms because they had the potential for higher, or even infinite, growth, compared to other paths with lower potentials like the Natural, Runic, or Scientific Paths that relied on predetermined resources. Almost every single Deity that ascended to Godhood through the means of an Authority Skill or a skill incorporates theoretical principles. The High Priest of the Void, for example, used the Authority Path and Natural Path hybrid skill, Void Bank.

Void Bank stores void energy in Vladimir's vessel and soul over time, and its limitation is that it can only be released in a fury, all at once. It must recharge over time, but its growth potential is proportional to the consumed void energy. The Priest had made many trips to the Void Continent to raise his skill's power, but as he gained more aura, his consumption rate gradually halted to a crawl. His skill's limit had been reached. To progress further, he would have to tamper his skill, create a new one to build on it, or wait a long period of time to store enough energy to advance to the next sub-realm. The Priest was bored and often stared out the window of his room.

The weather rarely changed, and the constant hum of the Ocean of Souls became like white noise. People slowly started to shift their positive outlooks and arduous training for the Trike approach of lying around doing nothing. Kiln started his daily story telling again as he had at the beginning of the journey, and people started to pull pranks on each other, namely Omira and Kiln. With shenanigans and games going on to kill time, 21's Rankings were often looked at and scrutinized heavily. Another week passed once again, but this time, something changed.

A quiet, dull roar was heard by the participants of the party. Some wondered if it was a sea monster. Omira guessed it was a dragon while others kept silent. Omira even went up to 21 and started harassing him,

"If you're really a prophet, tell me what kind of dragon that is!"

21 laughed at her and said, "It'll be more fun if you keep guessing!"

"See, he doesn't know Clico. He's not actually a prophet." Omira boasted. 21 took her words in jest and went on his way laughing.

Days past and a dull hum grew louder into a deafening roar. Everyone had to yell at each other to communicate anything. Everyone wondered and some even flew into the air with flight magic to see the culprit of the noise. Soon, it became evident what it was: a gigantic drop off.

The Ocean suddenly free-fell into an abyss of darkness. At a glance, no one could see the bottom even if they tried. Ziphe signaled for the ship to stop a few miles off, but the pull of the great waterfall required an anchor. Six months, or 210 days had passed. Yelling with the volume befitting a God, he addressed the party,

"Are you ready to enter the Second Floor?"