I opened my eyes and everything looked different than the time I had closed them. I groaned.
"Oh, still alive, I see" that damned smile again.
"Yea, yea, still alive. Barely though. When I closed my eyes, I really thought that that was the end for me. Did you cast a healing spell on me? I thought you had no affinity for light magic though? I asked, still in a haze.
"It wasn't technically a healing spell, but…" He averted his eyes.
"OK, I'll bite, what did you do to me, why did the pain lessened?
"You know how a monk fights right? Instead of strengthening his body with mana like other warriors, he transfers his mana at the point of contact to his opponents body and just lets it run loose causing heavy damage to the internal organs? Well I kinda, sorda, did something similar to that. On a much smaller scale and with the intention of repairing and not damaging of course." He laughed nervously "But…"
"Let me guess, if you had made a single mistake, you might have killed me right?"
"Y-yea."
I sighed "Well at least I am still alive, so thanks, I guess." The alchemist looked slightly relieved and his usual smile returned.
"So, anyway, how do you feel? How is your leg? Did you spot any changes in yourself? The kid is good at changing the subject.
I stood up, did some stretching and jumping, clenched my fist a few times and said "Well, my leg seems to be completely healed, I feel stronger, lighter on my feet. I can see farther than before can hear better than before. It might be that my sense of smell improved because I can clearly smell you from this distance and it is unpleasant to say the least. But I don't know for how long I was out, so you might have naturally gained that funk though."
" Ha ha, very funny. You were out for a few hours at most, so it is just your sense of smell improving. Anything else?" Well, would you look at that, I managed to piss him off.
"Yea, the main thing. I don't know how it is possible or even if it is possible, but I seem to have gained a higher mana capacity."
"That is not possible, the amount of mana a person has is determined from birth. There is no way to increase it!"
"I know, it shouldn't be possible, that was one of the first things we were taught in the hero's boot camp, but… I can't explain it, I just feel it." I looked at the alchemist and added "And it seems I have acquired a new skill, because I can clearly see the mana you naturally radiate. I guess, it is similar to the skill 'mana sight'"
"So all that for a little bit of pain huh? Pretty sweet deal If I do say so myself." A little bit of pain huh? I'll kill him.
As we spoke I sensed someone approaching and looked at the direction. It was a 'Shadow panther', but unlike the previous one, this one looked to be in perfect fighting condition. It is a wonder that I was actually able to spot it. I smiled "Well, alchemist, lets see what this little bit of pain actually gave me"
I unsheathed my dagger and took a fighting stance, the very same one I was drilled to take in the boot camp. The monster charged at an incredible speed, its first move was a right slash with its claws. I was able to dodge back. Then the 'Black panther' went for my thigh with powerful jaws, but this time instead of dodging I went forward and kneed it in the jaw with the other leg.
The beast staggered for a bit, that was my queue to attack. I rushed forward and delivered a blow with the dagger to the side of its neck, piercing its vertebrae. It groaned and went down, its eyes rolling back to the skull.
I was surprised, my heart racing. It was a 'B' class monster, but I defeated it without considerable effort. "Hey, alchemist, what was your name again?" I asked, without looking at him.
"It's Alex, Alex Jones. Why the Sudden interest?" He asked confused.
"Because we might actually be able to leave this place"
_________________________________________________________________________
Jogeswar Ishwan Cheliyan the fourth
"That concludes today's report on the welfare of the citizens" Said one of my advisors.
"Great! I deeply appreciate your efforts, I'll take some time to consider everything you have said and get back to you on a later date" finally! It's over. "Now then, let's continue with the important matters at hand. How is the hero and the other travelers doing, how is their training progressing?
"Well, about that…" a bold and slightly overweight minister answered "I regret to inform you, my liege, that we unfortunately lost two travelers in the great labyrinth.
"What! What do you mean? It has only been two weeks since they had started training in that accursed place and now you are saying that two of them are dead?! How? Why? When? Explain! Damn them, I only had 56 of them from the start and now I lost two? At this rate they all might die before doing anything useful. And all that after three months of training no less.
"Well, my liege, it seems that their party was teleported to the 50th floor and encountered an 'S' class monster - the 'devil snake'. they all fought bravely and managed to push back the beast, but two of them were unfortunately lost." the minister could see the dissatisfaction on my face rising. "A-although it is sad, my king, but look at it this way, their party managed to do what seemed to be impossible, they actually went to the 50th floor and came back. A-and besides the ones lost were only 'D' and 'C' rank - Isaac Sygrim and Alex Jones so while it is unfortunate, the loss we have incurred isn't that big, considering that the others on their party were of higher rank." The minister laughed uneasily.
Sigh, it seems I was worried for nothing, I was lucky this time that only they died. It is a waste though. No! It wasn't a waste, they should be honored that they defended their higher ranked party members. Yes, their heroic deeds defended this kingdom's hope for the future! My expression instantly changed and happiness crept onto my face. "We should reward the brave travelers for their efforts in clearing the 50th floor. Yes, we will hold a feast in their names." I said with satisfaction.
"Yes, of course, but what about the two who had died?" the minister asked.
"Oh, them? It is truly unfortunate that the goddess in her infinite wisdom and compassion decided to take them away from us" I squeezed out a tear "But life is life, we have to move forward for the sake of others. I am sure that they would have wanted that. We can… give a toast in their honor during the feast! Yes! I have decided. It shall be done.
_________________________________________________________________________
Isaac Sygrim
I have defeated the 'Shadow panther' alone which is a great feat, but that alone will not be enough to escape this hell hole. We have no other choice, I have to become stronger, we must become stronger. Alex must undergo the same trial that I have. In order to escape, we have no other choice.
"Hey, Alex, you know you have to…"
"I'll do it! I'll create the same potion you had drunk and obtain the same amount of power you currently possess." He said with overflowing determination. "But in order for it to work, first you have to master mana transfer which will take you at least three days."
Three days? This isn't good. We have a source of clean water, but what about the food? I have lost my rations while falling so we will have to rely on Alex's. Damn it, I am already hungry. Unless… I looked at the freshly slain 'Shadow panther' and asked "Hey, is this thing edible?"
Alex followed my gaze and said "No, from what I have heard, monsters are poisonous, and even if that wasn't the case - they taste just awful."
"So…" I asked directly looking at the alchemist "We have to spend at least three days for me to learn mana transfer. In the meantime the only food we have is your rations and that won't be enough for the both of us. If we starve we won't be able to fight at full strength, if we eat the 'Shadow panther' there is a chance of a very unpleasant death. So what do we do?"
"I think you should eat it. The panther that is and I will eat my own food. If you survive, we will know that after our transformation we are able to eat monsters," If I survive? This little shit, It seems he wants to use me as a guinea pig again. Well, whatever, his rations would run out far quicker than we left this accursed place if we split them anyway. It seems that feeding on monsters is our best chance to survive. I am just pissed that he didn't even hesitate before sacrificing me.
"Fine, but if I die, I'll haunt you in your dreams."
"Fine by me" He said with a smile.
I took my dagger and sliced through the skin on the monster's back leg exposing the muscle underneath. After removing the skin, I sliced off a sizable chunk of the meat, skewered it on my dagger and set it to cook on the fire. The smell was putrid, it smelled of ammonia and something else that I can't even describe. When the time to taste came, I was hesitant to say the least. While looking at the meat, I was debating whether or not it would just be better to die or not, but in the end I took a bite.
The taste actually surprised me, It was even worse than the smell. Way worse. But I had to eat to survive, so I did. After a few bites the pain came back. The same pain that I had experienced after drinking the potion, but this time the pain was a lot tamer, so I bore with it.
After the pain had passed I felt even stronger than before and it seemed that my mana capacity had increased once again as well, although the effect wasn't as strong as the first time. I guess it's fair - less pain - less power.
When I explained all of this to Alex, he seemed to have theorized something in his mind before answering that all monsters are genetically almost alike, just like all humans. Their starkly different appearance, power and abilities lie in what they have consumed. In other words if a monster consumes a rabbit, it will gain rabbit-like traits, if it consumes a cat - it will gain cat-like traits. When monsters consume a lot of different animals, they gain some traits of all of them, not only that but monsters can consume each other to gain the other's traits as well.
When I drank the potion, it seems that I have acquired the skill unique to monsters, a skill that allows me to eat them and take their power for myself - the "devourer' skill.
Four days had passed. I spent that time diligently training 'mana transfer' and hunting other 'Shadow panthers'. After eating them for a few more times I noticed that my physical abilities and my mana capacity stopped growing. It seemed like it was time to move to other monsters, but before that Alex had to go through evolution as well.
It wasn't any easier for him than it was for me which made me very glad. Karma is a bitch. I of course did everything in my power to keep him alive, but I wasn't that worried about the pain he had to endure. That is what you get for using me as your guinea pig, you bastard.
After his transformation he gained the same power up as me, as expected. After a few days of eating various 'Shadow panthers' and gaining their power, Alex was finally getting used to his new body and the time to leave was rapidly approaching.
When we finally found the stairs leading up the alchemist looked me dead in the eyes and said "We have gained considerable strength and we are finally able to leave this dungeon right?"
"Well yea, what of it?" I asked intrigued.
"What if instead of going up to the surface we go down to the abyss, just imagine the amount of power we would be able to obtain if we cleared all 100 floors of this dungeon, we would become the apex predators of the world. No! We would be gods! No one in the world would be able to stand against us."
"I don't know, it sounds like a hassle. Besides the deeper we go the stronger the monsters will become, what if one of us actually dies in there?"
"That's the fun part, to the outside world we are already dead. So what do you say, will you join me in achieving greatness or dying trying or will you go up like a coward?"
"Sound logic. Fine, you are on." No one will call me a coward.
"Then let's make a woe to clear this dungeon and to survive till the very end. You and me - a party of only two people against the biggest and hardest dungeon in the entire world. We will become legends!"
I smiled internally "Fine, let's." I am starting to like this guy.