"This was a weird meal, but it wasn't half bad," Icarus said. "Now I am ready to keep going. Nothing can stop me now!"
Icarus was getting carried away… Nevertheless, Billy was more worried about making sure that this dungeon won't be destroyed. It would be very useful on their hands once they defeat the manipulator, so they had to stop that possibility from happening at all costs. Moreover, such a place would be too useful in a continent where everyone lived from hunting and fighting. Still, there was always the chance that the manipulator might pull something off to make them drop their guard.
With renewed vigor, the group began to explore the eighth floor. All of them knew that eating the tyrant's hearts was going to be the main thing that they could use to restore their energy, so they had to avoid fighting as much as possible to make the energy obtained let them proceed more than usual. Billy controlled his drones even faster than before to make sure that this would be the case.
Things proceeded quite well for a while, and the group managed to keep their energy at satisfactory levels. Still, Billy could see that everyone was pushing themselves too hard… Without any other choice, he buffed their parameters with support magic. Since it was only a temporary help, that much was fine.
Although the drones were doing their work perfectly, the group still needed six hours to cross the entire eighth floor. At that point in time, Lucyna and Icarus were finally learning how crazy the dungeons of that world were. Meryl was already used to that since her dungeon must have at least five levels.
"Man, I will never get used to this…" Icarus said. "Remember me never to try to clear a dungeon this deep ever again."
Things only got more complicated when they reached the next level and were forced to fight against five tyrants at the same time. Billy had to summon another spear made of mana to kill the extra beast. So, that was another cost of mana being spent.
"We might stop now and then to eat the hearts and recover our energy, but unless we do that every hour, we are going to find another dead end soon enough," Billy thought.
Billy and the others held their ground, but then things got messy again… on the tenth floor, another tyrant spawned, and they got attacked by six of them in each battle. That was supposed to happen only on the next level, so they were caught off guard. The monsters used that golden chance granted by everyone's surprise, and then they fired in total synchrony their Mana Cannon. Billy protected everyone with earth walls, but those were quickly disintegrating. At least it granted everyone the chance to recover.
Billy used Flash to approach the three tyrants in front of him, and that was something new in that dungeon. Still, he needed to do something like that from now on, or even he will run out of mana. With that in mind, he used Light Spear version two at close range and then beheaded one of the tyrants. Before the others could react, he approached them and then used Enhanced Thievery on both of them. In the next moment, the heart of the beasts appeared in Billy's hands.
You obtained 1500 experience points.
The skill Enhanced Thievery obtained 750 experience points.
You obtained 1500 experience points.
The skill Enhanced Thievery obtained 750 experience points.
…
"It worked a lot better than I expected, and I saved some mana. As for the others…" Billy turned around and saw the others finish the monsters as well.
Since they were a bit flustered, they didn't think of conserving their energy… Nevertheless, as soon as the battle ended, Billy decided to call for a retreat, even though they had just started the exploration.
Tyrant - Lv 750
HP: 21.150/ 21.150
MP: 16.120/ 16.120
SP: 18.300/ 18.300
Strength: 1455 + 1250
Speed: 835 + 1250
Magic: 1455 + 1250
Endurance: 1455 + 1250
Dexterity: 735 + 1250
Status Points: 00
Skills: Roar Lv 330, Steel Claws Lv 330
Spells: Mana Cannon Lv 580, Poisonous Cannon Lv 580
Passive: Earth Resistance Lv 590, Cold Resistance Lv 550, Fire Resistance Lv 580, Wind Resistance Lv 580, Poison Resistance Lv 750, Shock Resistance Lv 750, Brute Strength Lv 250, Quick Legs Lv 250, Toughness Lv 250, Sage's Wisdom Lv 250, Enhanced Dexterity Lv 250, Draconic Heart Lv 10, Draconic Mind Lv 10, Dragonic Body Lv 10
Skill Points: 00
"Their levels and the power of their offensive skills increased… this might be a bit troublesome," Billy thought.
"I knew that this dungeon wasn't normal, but…" Meryl said and then showed an annoyed expression. "We didn't find any signs of the Manipulator until now, so he must be ahead, fighting the tyrants nonstop."
"It seems that we are going to face someone Stronger than even Billy," Icarus said.
"You are pretty slow… That was clear from the beginning," Billy said.
Although he said that, Billy always thought that the manipulator wouldn't be a real threat… Until he entered this dungeon. There was no telling how much stronger he could become if he focused all his might on that. However, he was only willing to use one-third of his life for training. The second was to sleep, and the second was for his family. But now he was going to face someone who couldn't care about that.
"Well, what now?" Lucyna asked. "If each level from here on out, the number of spawning monsters will increase… Then each one of us will have to kill two of them in each fight."
If Billy could Teleport, he wouldn't mind those odds. Staying in that dungeon for eight hours a day with that much experience available would be awesome, even if the atmosphere was a problem. Nevertheless, Billy had to find a way to solve things right now. He couldn't retreat after coming this far…
