DanMachi 40

Inwardly cursing her enchanted senses, I give Olivia an innocent smile and show off my sword.

"Look what I have!" I say waving it around, like a fool, a wide smile showing on my face.

"You were out all night..." She squints her eyes, probing me up and down, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary, but she's completely ignoring the swords.

"Yeah had to craft it the old-fashioned way, the material I found didn't work well with magic." Then I remember I can just share my memories with her, and so I do. I open a [Link] with her and send her the memories of the night.

"What the fuck?" She says after a moment of silence.

"Hmm?" I ask not knowing which part made her curse.

"That bitch got horny after you covered her mouth. You're lucky she had no effect on you." She says looking at me squinting her eyes.

"Why would she?" I shrug. "I got a perfectly fine and usable girlfriend at home," I say with a laugh.

"What?" She asks, and I know all too well she heard it crystal clear. Instead of answering, I blinked behind her and pinned her down, she wriggles in my hold but doesn't use any of her real strength.

[Link] still active, so I push all my feelings through it, she quiets down, and a crimson blush appears on her face. Yeah, it was not long after, that even our butt cheeks were filled with sand, cursed be the sandy beaches of the 86th floor.

Olivia, left me to rest laying on the ground, while she went and prepared lunch. A few hours later I was woken up by her, with a plate of thick soup, with a lot of meat.

As I joined her next to the campfire, she asks. "So what concept do you think the sword gained?"

"I might be wrong, but considering the Voidborn Race could already consume stuff and become stronger and gain abilities, and that the chains had a similar consuming and disturbing part to them. I think it was perfection, optimization, completion, or something similar. Because the abilities it already had, became stronger, how should I stay it? Complete? Upgraded?" I shrug. "Well, I'm basing it on what Hephaistos's said, so I'll have to test it out."

"And what's with the name? It's ominous as fuck."

"Ah, don't you like it?" I ask with a wide smile. "It's kind of fitting, to be honest. In the wrong hands, this sword could bring the end of a world."

"Could you stop making stuff that could destroy worlds?" She says pointing at me with her spoon and giving me a deadpan look.

"Not a chance." Crossing my arms, I look the other way, while carefully orienting my bowl, not to spill anything.

She sighs and continues to eat, after a moment she adds. "Alright, but be careful, we don't want a situation like with that goat -"

"Voidborn" I correct instantly.

"Okay... Voidborn." She rolls her eyes. "We don't want a repeat of that situation. Imagine something similar happening but in a lower tier world, or just imagine what would have happened here, if the world laws didn't intervene."

"Alright, alright, I promise to be careful, not to use or do anything that can endanger entire worlds. Happy?"

"Yeah, that sounded totally sincere... Whatever I'll just have to keep an eye on you." She says shaking her head. "So after you finish your meal can you take me to Hestia? I need to level up."

"Sure, no problem," I answer between bites.

[Falna Status] (Olivia)

Level: 9 > 10

Strength: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)

Endurance: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)

Dexterity: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)

Agility: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)

Magic: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)

D.A.:

[Swordsman SSS] [Chain Attack SSS] [Crush SSS] [Abnormal Resistance A>S] [Magic Resistance A>SS] [Healing Power E>C] [Spirit Healing F>C] [Mage I>G] [Strong Body I]

Magic:

[Icicles C] [Blink SSS] [Clean B>A] [Infuse SSS] [Fly F>D] [Destiny SSS]

Skills:

[Heart's Desire] [Sacred Dance] [True Cut] [Heroic Empowerment] [Mind of the Blade]

[Strong Body LVL: 1/120]

- Increases Strength, Vitality, P. Res, and M. Res stats by 1 for every two levels of this skill.

Even if I was convinced I could teach her [Strong Body] with Paper Mage's, grimoire creation, she didn't want to risk it and took the development ability. It was not like her other options were oh-so-great. The initiative was her only other remotely interesting ability, which granted her a damage increase with her first strike against a new target while boosting her decision-making ability in combat. In the end, she chose, whatever she wanted to choose.

A few moments later we find ourselves at the staircase leading to the 95th floor. As [Celestial Eyes] couldn't breach the gap between floors anymore, we had to go the old-fashioned way. The downward spiraling staircase, even with our extreme movement speeds, took ages to complete. As soon as we took a step into the floor, a notification appeared on our screens.

[Quest: [Dungeon diving 95] Completed 95 WP(x4) Received]

The landscape didn't change all that much compared to the last level. The ground was littered with holes, craters, and ravines, purple and green flames rising from their depths. Miasma denser than the one a level above, surrounded the layer, attempting to corrupt and choke us. Making our air filters work 24/7.

Compared to the last floor's huge demonic creatures, this one was a bit different, it held groups of hellhounds led by something resembling Cerberus. These creatures had three heads each equipped with sharp teeth and canines longer than an arm. The hellhounds reached only till our hips, however, the Cerberuses towered over us, reaching 5 meters in height. Walking on all fours, their steps shook the ground, each step leaving an indent in it.

"Would love to have one of these guys as a pet. They look almost like Fluffy." I comment.

"Fluffy?" She asks looking at me in a strange way.

"Oh, I never told you about Fluffy? He was a three-headed dog one of the staff in the magical school had."

"Okay... So what happened to it?"

"He kind of ate a teacher..." I say awkwardly.

"Yeah, you're not getting one, what if it chooses one day to bite off your head?" She squints her eyes at me and places her arms on her hip

"Hmm, I wonder why you didn't do that yet..." I mumble under my breath.

"Excuse me?!" She asks, acting all hurt.

"Nothing, nothing," I say waving my hands trying to save my hide. 'Stupid enchanted hearing...'

"That's what I thought." She says after a snort.

"So how fast do you want to reach the bottom?" I ask.

"As soon as we can." A wild smile forms on my face and she knows she fucked up. "Wait! Don't do anything-" but I zone her out completely.

[Mana's Blessing] activates at 100% doubling all my stats, [Archive] boosts my cognitive functions even higher, while [Focus], [Multicasting], and [Multitasking] take off some of the load, thousands of intricate runes form all around me drinking up the surrounding mana like crazy and the world trembles.

The pressure in the air intensifies, as the first of many magical circles form, followed by the other five, forming a tridimensional array aimed directly at the ground. [Magical Penetration] and [Sage's Wisdom] enchant its power to the limit, and a laser-like beam, 20-meter-thick fires off directly at the ground, cleaving right through it and reaching new depths below.

"The dungeon is surprisingly quiet." I notice, no rumbling or any perceived anger from the clearly sentient place, but I ignore it.

With that, I take a step, appear next to Olivia and drop her over my shoulder. My current movement speed way exceeded her comprehension speed and she only notices something happened, when we arrived at the next floor.

"Aaaassssssshhhhhhhoooooolllleeee" As we plunged through the floors, her piercing scream echoed throughout the dungeon, yet the speed was too fast for her to register the swiftly passing floors. Suddenly, we slammed into the 99th floor with a bone-crunching impact. The ground caved in beneath us, but surprisingly we didn't plummet straight through. The melted surface indicated that the spell had penetrated this point, yet it hadn't pierced through it.

[Quest: [Dungeon diving 96] Completed 96 WP(x4) Received]

[Quest: [Dungeon diving 97] Completed 97 WP(x4) Received]

[Quest: [Dungeon diving 98] Completed 98 WP(x4) Received]

[Quest: [Dungeon diving 99] Completed 99 WP(x4) Received]

I spot a few kill notifications and quest completion alerts on my screen, but I chose to ignore them all because I sensed that something was off. Despite the continuous screams of Olivia, she abruptly stopped after receiving a slap on her buttocks. She stared at me with a fervent look but soon realized that something was amiss. My previously joking and light-hearted attitude had vanished, and I was now gazing ahead with a furrowed brow. Suddenly, an intense energy, familiar to us but much stronger than anything we had ever experienced, swept through our surroundings. Olivia tensed up on my shoulders, her breath hitching.

My heightened senses alerted me to dodge the incoming attack, and I quickly obeyed. Without the luxury of time to form a magical circle, I had only one option and prayed that my speed was sufficient. As I stepped to the right, a razor-sharp claw sliced through the dungeon floor for miles.

I mentally connected with Olivia through [Link] and swiftly messaged her, "If you plan on battling that beast, you must enhance your stats immediately. It's likely a tier four, possibly tier five creature. I can't face it while carrying you."

"What? Are you calling me fat?" she playfully responded, but her amusement was short-lived as I threw her aside with all my might. Her body soared through the air at supersonic speeds, yet her gaze remained locked on me with a disbelieving expression. The entire dungeon trembled as I intercepted an incoming appendage with my sword, causing a diffusion of air followed by an implosion. In a split second, I was flung several kilometers away from my original position.

"Fuck that hit like an aircraft carrier," I muttered while expressing gratitude for my vitality keeping me alive. With a loud snap, I popped my dislocated shoulder back into place and cast a combination of [Gift of Life], [Halo], and [Troll's Regeneration]. The trio of abilities quickly repaired most of the damage I had sustained, but time was not on my side.

With a sharp tilt to the left, I managed to evade a descending tentacle. The displaced air knocked me off balance, sending me spinning through the air. To stabilize myself, I activated [Fly] and conjured [Arsenal], summoning a multitude of weapons to form spinning circles around me. The magical constructs spun at breakneck speeds, attempting to incinerate anything in their path. However, upon striking an unseen foe, they shattered hopelessly, and the mana invested in the spell dissipated into nothingness.

As there was not a single drop of mana on this floor, my sorcerer senses were rendered useless. I could only rely on my [Seismic Sense], [Enhanced Hearing], and perception, but none of them were of much use while I was airborne. To make matters worse, the entire floor was shrouded in an eerie, unnatural darkness, similar to that of floors 81 and beyond. Meanwhile, my mind was under assault by multiple tendrils attempting to penetrate my mental defenses. I had to rely on [Mind Arts] to fend them off, but each hit shook my mind like a battering ram, making it difficult to concentrate.

With my sword infused with [Infuse], I swing it hard towards the source of the splitting noise I hear from the side. The resulting bright light cuts through the floor, the ceiling, and a few tentacles simultaneously, revealing my enemy for the first time, and what I see nearly makes me shit my pants.

The creature looming in front of me is a grotesque amalgamation of writhing tentacles, razor-sharp claws, and other twisted appendages, all stemming from a central mass of pulsating blackness. Its scaly, furry, and feathered body is adorned with millions of eyes, each one unique in size, shape, and color, covering every inch of its monstrous form, even sprouting from the tips of its furs and feathers. Rows upon rows of concentric, jagged teeth line the inside of its gaping maw, dripping with acidic saliva. Golden chains barely contain their immense power, yet even their efforts to restrain it seem futile. This abomination, a true spawn of the Void, rivals the unspeakable horror we faced before. Its deafening roar shatters the ground and shakes the very air, hurling me several meters away with an otherworldly force.

As I focus on the monster in front of me, a sudden flash of yellow from the other side of the floor grabs my attention. Olivia has joined the fray, her sword flashing as she delivers swift strikes that hit but fail to do any damage. She dances around the creature, narrowly avoiding its vicious attacks and managing to distract it long enough for me to prepare.

Time is running out, and the strain of my power-ups is taking a toll on my body. I need to end this quickly or risk being overwhelmed. I rely on Olivia to buy me enough time to gather all my strength for a single, devastating blow.

With a deep breath, I activate [Minotaur's Rage] and [Orcish Strength], pushing my already incredible stats to the limit. My sword hums with anticipation, eagerly absorbing every ounce of mana it can into its blade without any resistance. This strike has to be perfect, or else we're doomed.

For what seemed like an eternity, the sword absorbed hundreds of thousands mana per second, but in reality, it was only ten seconds, ten excruciating seconds. As I lift the sword above my head, my hands tremble with effort, my muscles bulging under the weight that feels like that of a mountain.

"Get out of the way!" I bark, my voice strained and gravelly, my mana channels ablaze with the intensity of the energy transfer. It was not built to handle this much power in such a short amount of time. As Olivia quickly backs away, I shout out "Spatial Slash!" and bring down a devastating overhead strike. Time seems to freeze as an intense flash of energy from my overcharged attack not only cleaves through the monster, but also through the ceiling, the floor, the town, and the sky itself, cutting everything in half with a thin strand of spatial mana.

My screen is flooded with millions of kill notifications, but a significant portion of them failed to yield any experience points. Just then, a beam of sunlight penetrates through the narrow crevice, reaching all the way down to the 99th floor.

"Fuck," I mutter under my breath as I realize that some of the notifications were for surface dwellers. Blood streams from my nose and ears, causing most of my enhancing skills to shut down. The battle is far from over, the creature is still alive and its skin is already regenerating.

But Olivia doesn't waste her chance and assaults the beast all alone. I drop to my knees, blood heavily dripping to the ground, while I try to catch my breath.

[Global Level has reached Level 93]

[Class: [Spatiomancer] level up x2]

[Class: [Spatiomancer] Max level reached additional class experience discarded]

[Strength excelia reached the maximum.]

[Endurance excelia reached the maximum.]

[Dexterity excelia reached the maximum.]

[Agility excelia reached the maximum.]

[Magic excelia reached the maximum.]

2x [Quest: [Slay 10 (R*2)] Completed 100 WP(x4) Received]

[Chains of mortality broken!]

[Falna system deemed unnecessary...]

[Rerouting energy...]

[Compatible skills found!]

[Skill: [Abnormal Resistance] reached max level.]

[Skill: [Healing Power] reached max level.]

[Skill: [Mystery] reached max level.]

Agony rips through me as the markings on my back ignite, and Hestia's falna condenses into something blazing hot inside of me, reminding me of the pain I felt when I first received my mana channels. Golden light shone right through my skin, healing my injuries and simultaneously rejuvenating my being. The rest of the falna, judged unnecessary by the system and discarded, carried away by the wind. Notifications started popping up in my hazy mind, but all I could do is scream in pain as my being is elevated another tier.

[Skill: [Seed of Divinity] unlocked.]

[Tier of your being has increased to 3.]

[Seed of Divinity LVL: N/A]

- Gain the ability to accumulate and mold divine energy.

- Gain the ability to create a single divine domain.

The pain subdues, and I worriedly turn to the side, prepared to jump back into the fray. My breathing ragged, and my [Pain Tolerance] maxed, but I can't get myself to care about any of that. I can only sigh in relief as I catch sight of Olivia holding her own quite impressively. She dances gracefully, blinking all over the battlefield and dodging each of the monster's attacks with ease, but those now seem sluggish and lacking the power they previously possessed. I must have landed a critical hit, as this wasn't how it moved before.

Olivia's [True Cut] was active, accompanied by [Infuse] and [Sword Aura], causing her snow-white blade to emit a brilliant rainbow glow that complemented the golden aura surrounding her. She looked like an angel, and I can't help but imagine her with brilliant white wings. Her [Chain Attack] combo remains unbroken, increasing her damage with each successful strike. The intensity of her sword's glow increases with each hit until it reaches a point where her attacks disintegrate large chunks of the monster's flesh upon contact. It's clear that she has charged up a devastating attack and is ready to unleash it.

Olivia launches herself off the ground and plunges her sword into the beast's half-reformed body, disintegrating most of its wiggling flesh. She falls to her knees, trying to catch her breath. A quick look at her status confirms that she has killed it, and I sigh in relief. The world laws react, pulling out the remains of the monster into what I assume is the Void, while the dungeon and the world experience a tremendous tremor.

I peel myself off the ground and cast [Clean] to remove the blood from my body. I then use [Blink] to teleport to the kneeling, panting, and screaming Olivia, covered in a golden hue. The clothes covering her back were burned away, and only the under armor I created survived the condensation of her [Seed of Divinity]. I cast [Gift of Life] on her, and I see a drastic change in her as her breathing quickly calms down and her previously pale skin turns healthy again.

"You okay?" I finally ask.

She doesn't answer, just stands up and hits me in the gut with a solid punch, knocking the air out of me. "That's for throwing me almost a hundred kilometers away! You fucker! It took me a few minutes to get back!" She shouts at me, clearly annoyed.

At this moment, I don't want to point out that she could have teleported right back to me with her [Heart's Desire] or that she could have just [Blink]ed back any time she wanted. I've learned to keep quiet when she's shouting and agree with her while nodding. Her rage-induced fit concludes, and at the end of it, she grabs my top. That's when I zone back in, looking at her a bit confused. She pulls me down and right into a passionate kiss.

"I love you, you idiot."

"I love you too," I reply confused.