"I hope not all levels are this strict… this must have been just to check my strength level." If the second level has the same difficulty, I don't think I'll be able to clear the whole dungeon—I'll exhaust myself physically and mentally before reaching the last floor. If I want to preserve my energy, I must use mana, but if I spend it recklessly, I won't make it to the end either…

"Why is it taking so long?" Several seconds had already passed since my fight against that death skeleton, and I hadn't received any result.

"Your power level has been calculated." The voice pauses for a second before continuing. "Your abilities do not match your current rank. You will take a higher-rank trial and receive the benefits of a grade 3 dungeon." That was unexpected. From what I understand, my challenge will be as if I were a Sapphire rank—I need to think carefully about how to manage both my energy and mana at the same time.

"Next, the conditions: You can leave the dungeon at any time by shouting 'I surrender.' You will have five minutes of rest between each difficulty level. If you surrender in the middle of a level, you will only obtain the rewards from the last floor you cleared." So… the risk of death is present. I must know my limits at all times; I cannot die here.

"Rewards may vary depending on the time spent on each floor." I understand this part—if I dedicate myself to running and hiding, I can recover energy, and that way I could clear any floor little by little. The problem is I'll get a worse reward if I take too long to complete each one.

"This leaves me no choice—I must be fast and efficient. This is a true challenge!" The excitement sharpens my senses, and the urge for a new trial bubbles in my stomach. The omnipresent voice delivers its last statement. "Level 2 begins in five minutes." I take a cushion from my dimensional bracelet and sit down; it's best to recover as much energy as possible during these breaks. The scenery hasn't changed at all, so I can assume I'll fight all kinds of skeletons in this darkness… without my domain, it would be almost impossible to see them coming.

Time flies. I've been talking with Glia about how my fight with that skeleton went, and she's still surprised at how easily I can dominate some monsters above my rank.

"They're coming." I feel several skeletons enter the range of my domain—a total of eight. I put away my cushion and stretch my body before the battle begins.

"This looks like a well-armed squad." That's my opinion of them. Some come with spears and swords, others with shields, and I notice two of them carrying something like wands—they must be the mages. When they get close enough, I feel a bit disappointed; I don't sense any pseudo Law or Law in them.

"My guess was right—the first level was only to measure my strength." If I want to face something similar again, I'll have to clear several more levels. I'm not discouraged and keep my eyes on my new enemies; fighting a squad has its own kind of difficulty.

The two shield bearers charge toward me, wearing heavy armor; the spearmen and swordsmen flank them, and the mages begin preparing some spells. "Now we're talking!" I rush at the shield bearers without thinking—if I give them the chance to trap me in a formation, things will get much harder.

I cover my body with ice armor, my swords humming with the power of Death's Edge, and prepare several Joyeuse just in case for the mages in the rear. As I get close, I take a small step to the left to strike the skeleton on that side—my right sword delivers a horizontal slash with all my weight, blocked by its shield. My strength overpowers its defense, forcing it back several steps.

I take the opportunity to lunge at the other before the spearmen reach me. My first sword is blocked, throwing it off balance, and the other blade cuts into its left arm and leg, making it kneel. I tilt my head back to dodge a spear and step back to avoid another aimed at my chest.

Two other swords nearly strike me from the flanks, but I use my own blades to block them. The difference in strength lets me withstand their attacks easily. I take advantage of my speed to kick one and focus on the swordsman to my left. He blocks my first two blows, loses balance, and I slash his head and shoulder.

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As I go for more strikes to finish him, a spear thrusts toward my chest—I dodge with a small leap, and at that same moment, a rain of small black spikes flies toward me. I use my movement skill to leave that spot; even though they wouldn't deal much damage thanks to my armor, I'd rather avoid them.

Both shield bearers charge at full speed, but I sidestep them, only to be met by another spear, which I have to block with my sword. I'm caught in a completely disadvantageous fight—they're all acting as one, covering each other's weaknesses. Even the mages only cast large spells when I manage to break their pressure.

I've taken two hits—their affinity with shadow, darkness, or death is strong. My armor trembles; for a moment, I thought it would break, but it holds together just barely. I inject mana to restore it. "Time to end this, boys." Up until now, I've used the Joyeuse only to delay some strikes—now they'll be a real asset in my offense.

With every move, I slowly close the distance to the mages. Once I'm close enough, my Joyeuse shoot toward them. They don't have time to react thanks to the speed of my lightning affinity—one pierces the chest of the first, and the other strikes the second in the stomach. The first falls backward, the second manages to stay up but is in critical condition.

"Your rear guard is gone, idiots." I create more Joyeuse to block the spearmen. One swordsman is nearly done for, and the other three are wounded from random cuts. I focus on the shield bearers—it only takes a few seconds to land blows on various parts of their bodies thanks to their slow reaction speed. My Joyeuse leave the spearmen and stab both shield bearers in the back, ending them.

The most injured swordsman is next to fall. Once only three remain, the fight becomes much easier. My movement speed has far surpassed theirs; they're covered in cuts and can't keep up with my swordplay, falling within seconds.

Their bodies turn to smoke and vanish, marking the end of the second level. I take out my cushion again and sit down. Glia appears beside me and curls up between my legs. "You did a good job against those bags of bones." What's with those words? Is she picking up my vocabulary? That's not good…

I don't say anything about it for now—we just talk about what we think the next levels will be like. She quickly loses interest and starts talking about the three girls. Glia is quite fond of them because they're always kind when they see her and look at her as if she's the cutest thing in the universe.

"Do you want to see them again? In a month, I'll go to Arisa's birthday." I remind her of our future plans. Sometimes she doesn't pay attention when I talk with my family—she gets distracted easily or just falls asleep.

"Yes, it will be a new adventure." She makes some feline sounds that I find very cute. "You'll probably find another woman, but without my approval, she won't enter your circle." I roll my eyes at her words—through our bond, I can feel she's joking.

"Stop repeating my grandmother." Glia has grown very attached to my grandmother; according to her, she's the only person who treats me differently besides herself. Her opinion of my grandmother is the most favorable possible—she sees her as both very strict and very caring at the same time.

"Time to go back inside." Glia disappears and returns to my cube. The five minutes have passed, and I sense several skeletons entering my domain again—this time, there are twice as many. In total, I've counted fifteen, and I can see that some carry bows. They don't seem stronger, just greater in number.

"Don't disappoint me, guys." I get up from my cushion and make all the preparations. So far, I haven't needed to use my crushing zone, but I'm eager to find the right moment to unleash it and turn the battle around.

While I'm imagining that situation, three arrows fly toward me at full speed. I dodge one with a tilt of my head, and the other two, aimed at my chest, are blocked by my swords. The speed of these arrows is impressive, and upon closer inspection, I realize something—they aren't made of wood but of concentrated dark mana.

"This is what I was looking for." My abilities, which had been in passive mode, return to active, and I prepare for this new challenge.

"This was twice as hard compared to the second level." I look up, and all the skeletons are turning into smoke. It took a bit more mana to finish them off, especially the archers—their arrows weren't the only fast thing about them; they were agile and annoying as well.

Seeing fifteen skeletons move as one is ridiculous—they supported each other constantly to avoid losing any allies. Once I took out their shield bearers, the difficulty dropped considerably. That was very fun.

"It was harder, but still easy." So far, I haven't been injured; the only hits I've taken were to my concentrated mana "armor," which barely held up. If any of them had at least a pseudo Law, they could have broken it easily.

"What should I expect from the fourth level?" Being halfway through the dungeon, it should be a point where things shift—that's what I hope. Anticipation floods my body as I await the next stage.

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