A small Denosis hands him a beautiful spear, seemingly made of some kind of special alloy with enchantments. White as snow, with a flawless design. Could I keep that spear? I discard the idea immediately—maybe they could offer it to me as a reward, but I'm not good at using spears.

This Denosis could certainly be at the same level as the one I fought a while ago; they give me the same sense of power. The problem is that spear… it seems to be a key enhancer. A few seconds later, my suspicions prove true: with a single vertical movement, it hurls nearly a dozen massive ice spears at me. I manage to block them by condensing a wall.

"Do you need some of my mana?" Glia asks me. I think about it for a moment as I keep dodging. I'm not low on mana right now, and I don't want to involve her inside the dungeon and risk changing the floor or the outcome.

"For now, no, Glia… although I don't know if I'll need it in a bit." I'd like to end this without her help; I sincerely hope I can. I'll only ask for some of her mana if the situation becomes impossible. Glia wishes me luck—she hasn't gone back to sleep, she's watching the fight attentively.

What is that spear? It really is something special. I'm no expert in enchanted weapons or anything like that, but I trust my ability to detect mana flow. He simply channels the necessary amount through the spear, and it boosts and accelerates the process. This weapon is not something a possible grade-3 should be wielding. These monsters don't have a fixed grade; I'm just assuming it based on its abilities.

"Yes, this weapon is definitely for an intermediate or advanced Ruby rank." This monster can only use it because of the dungeon's conditions—I see no other explanation. I could only deduce that by comparing the attack's power with the Ruby ranks I've met.

This bastard isn't giving me a chance to get close. His speed matches mine, and his constructs are just as powerful and fast as mine. Every time I manage to close in, he strikes the ground with the spear and countless spikes rise up, covering a huge area. That attack forces me to retreat.

Step by step, using every ounce of ingenuity and imagination, I finally manage to overcome that area spell that had stopped me multiple times. "Let's see what you're made of." My sword swings horizontally toward his neck, but the spear blocks it with little effort. He steps back to take advantage of his weapon's length and tries to stab me three times.

I move my body just enough to dodge two thrusts, and I stop the last one with my other sword. I pull back my right arm to try a vertical slash, but it's blocked again. His strength is a little above mine, and the speed of his attacks surpasses me. The dungeon has gathered a lot of data from my battles against the other Denosis and created its leader to push me to the limit.

Our weapons danced a beautiful, violent dance—him moving to gain distance and exploit his weapon's length, me chasing him without finding a gap in his guard. Every strike aimed at vital points, feints flying back and forth; neither of us willing to yield an inch and hand the advantage to the other.

I don't know when a smile had formed on my face. It had been so long since I felt this kind of intoxicating sensation. To fight someone at a similar power level—we're tied, and a single mistake could be fatal. This feeling is exhilarating; my body and mind are giving their all to seize this opportunity to its fullest.

Too bad it can't last forever. I must act before I drain all the stamina restored by my Vital Synthesis. I activate my Crushing Zone, focusing nearly all my mana on the monster before me. Something happens I didn't expect: it's not working properly.

What is that? Why isn't it functioning correctly? His movements have slowed a little, just enough for me to gain an advantage. The problem lies in how much mana I'm being forced to pour in just to get a minimal effect. Somehow, he's blocking my mana, forcing me to spend more to achieve even the slightest gain.

We continue trading blows at breakneck speed. I've gained some ground thanks to my Crushing Zone, and now the Denosis is on the defensive. Wait… I feel my own movements slowing down. The monster is regaining the offensive bit by bit, and I'm losing my edge.

Why am I getting slower? Is this some kind of ability? I focus my vision on the mana around us and discover something shocking. Somehow, that spear is radiating ice-type mana into the surroundings. Not only that—it seems to be empowering one of the monster's abilities. It's similar to an ice domain. The range is small, maybe six meters at most, and not very effective yet.

Stolen novel; please report.

What a marvelous ability. It can dampen my skills a little and make me slower. No, it's slowing down everything within that small ice domain—any ability, movement, or thing is being "frozen" little by little. That's why my gravity and my speed are losing strength.

I can't help but admire this skill. I have high resistance to ice thanks to my affinity, and my Imra is protecting me quite well from the effect. Without those two advantages, I'd probably be turned into an ice popsicle before long.

I analyze the ability, and I grasp some of its workings. It's somewhat like my gravity prison with Imra. The difference lies in its method: I try to suppress my opponent within a space where they can't move, while this ability tries to slow and drain them bit by bit. "Thanks—I should be able to add this to my repertoire." I flash the monster a smile, grateful for the idea.

If I manage to add ice mana to my prison, it'll be easier to restrain monsters or people, especially when I reach absolute zero. At that point, I could stop any movement or ability with the combined force of mana, Imra, and Laws. Another way to apply it would be inside my personal world—anyone would feel desperate if they were crushed by my Crushing Zone while gradually losing stamina and mobility to ice.

My mind drifts for a moment into those future plans, and because of that distraction, I fail to dodge his spear in time. It grazes my left arm. The tip is sharp—razor sharp—it pierces through my armor and all my defenses with ease. The wound freezes instantly. I'm forced to shatter the ice with my Imra and heal myself with my curing ability.

I push aside thoughts of new abilities for now. My hands are full trying to refine my movement skill. Next comes improving all my pseudo-Laws, and finally, maybe I'll be able to create some combined skill involving my personal world, gravity, and ice. I give one last thought to that dream of the future before turning all my focus back to the fight.

After all these minutes, we've both been wounded. I've been healing myself little by little, while he seals his wounds with ice—that's his best way to stop blood loss over time. He manages to block my next slash aimed at his abdomen, but the force of the blow leaves him in a tough spot, and I carve a gash near his shoulder.

A black aura rises from his spear. Death affinity? I recognize that feeling instantly. Not many monsters can control it at grade-3, and as Susan explained, they try to use it as little as possible because of its immense mana cost. In my case, my high affinity with my supreme elements makes them consume less mana than normal, though gravity still eats up the most.

His desperate attempt to beat me fails. More wounds keep piling up on his body, impossible to heal. In nearly every exchange, I'm injured too—but the difference is my healing. I feel my core, and there's less than 8% mana left. Breaking through his death affinity and healing myself is becoming harder and costlier each second.

His body finally gives in under the pressure of gravity and exhaustion. He can't dodge my next slash, and his left hand goes flying. The Denosis refuses to give up, launching a final offensive with only one arm, burning his last source of mana. Spears of ice infused with death affinity erupt all around us, all of them flying toward me as he tries to stab me with his remaining arm.

I dodge the most dangerous ones, block others with constructs, and finally, I'm forced to use the bracelets to escape the rest. The Denosis poured everything he had into summoning dozens upon dozens of spears; there was no way to avoid them all unharmed. I teleport right in front of him—at the cost of losing my entire right arm—and with my left, I slash horizontally, severing the monster's head from his body.

"Congratulations, challenger! Floor eight cleared." When the simple voice echoes in my head, I finally allow myself to relax, collapsing onto the ground—I'm too exhausted to stand. "You've cleared all the floors, and your time ranks as the second best! You'll have the chance to choose an improved reward, and you'll also be granted a special reward based on the data collected." I can only raise my remaining fist in celebration; I'm too tired to jump for joy.

Second place? Not bad… though I can't help feeling a little disappointed not to claim first, even if I suspected as much after losing too much time on some floors. "The estimated calculation time is five minutes." Five minutes? That's not long. Just enough to rest a little.

At that moment, a warm sensation flows into my core—Glia is gently giving me her mana. It hurts a little to convert that mana into Vital Synthesis. My core is battered and weary after these last two consecutive floors. I make one last effort to ease my fatigue, letting the rest of Glia's mana settle gently into my core.

"Thanks, little sister." I give her the best smile I can manage. She's only given me enough to keep me from fainting, but it's enough—I can stay awake to claim my rewards.

"I don't even want to imagine how you'd feel if you fainted and couldn't claim your prizes after clearing the dungeon." She curls up on my lap, laughing. Her words almost spark a wave of panic in me. She's right—what would happen if I passed out for hours? Would the dungeon wait until I woke up? That's something I'd never want to find out… I'd regret it for the rest of my life.

Finally, I cleared this hero's dungeon! A warm feeling swells in my chest. I feel both excited and proud of myself—my efforts are finally bearing fruit.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.