Chapter 111 - The Beginner's Dungeon (Part Two)

He moved down, and the beasts had changed this time. They were from the Fly and Mosquito families. He was annoyed as the moment he cut down a mosquito, he was splashed with blood all over him. The Flies were more annoying with their 360-degree vision.

This was making it harder for him to slay them and the mosquitoes were interrupting his attempts if he neared killing any one of them. He was slowly getting pissed off by their attitude toward them as he reached the lower floors. 

"Just what is their deal? It's like they both have a deal, and someone is commanding them from the shadows. Could it be that the boss of this one is controlling them from behind the scenes?", he thought.

All left now were the flies, and he was sure that being a cluster of them, it would be harder for them to maneuver in such a small space. He smirked wide and began his massacre as one dodged while the other got attacked.

After thinning down their numbers, that was when he felt the struggle kick in. Each of them had enough space, and they could now dodge his attacks quite easily. In his imagination, he felt the flies were mocking him for the lack of strength.

He tried to activate the Rage Mode he had.

[Activation is unavailable due to restrictions]

This pissed him off more, but it also made him realize something within him. He realized that he was relying too much on the system and that he had to gain his strength. In the future, he was expecting the upgrades to take longer, and he would need his strength to defeat anything he faced at that said particular moment.

"This kid has finally figured it out. The more you rely on your system, the lesser your growth. Now, let me see how you overcome this situation when all the odds are against you", thought Valentine as he watched the situation unfold in front of him.

Lucas didn't want to use the spells, as he was sure that without learning to channel Mana from the outside into his Mana channels, he would need to rely on the system until then. So, he used the only thing he was good at, combat.

The Flies had a weakness even with their vision. It was their wings. It was their strength and their weakness at the same time. Once the wings were out of the picture, they will not be able to dodge the attacks that are directed towards them as they do not have the agility.

Only some of the flies had developed the agility aspect, and Lucas had concluded that there was nothing of the sort in this place. He put his dual blades back, and pulled out his Exploding Ice Blade. 

He did the same move that he picked up from Robert, the Third Form. The slash that he sent was dodged by the fly, but Lucas had added something new to it. The slash turned to the right and cut down one of the flies that were not expecting an attack that had gone past it.

"Unpredictability is the only way to take these things down", he smiled as he saw his plan succeed. Now, he sent a bunch of slashes and all of them were overlapping each other in all directions, leaving no place for the flies to escape.

After every fly was dead, he got back into the elevator and went down to the tenth floor. If his predictions were correct, that was the place where there was going to be a save point. He needed to finish this quickly.

"If the difficulty level is going to be on the rise, then it would surely make this harder for me to complete within the record time. Just what kind of an inhumane person is my father?", he thought as he remembered the record time. 

He was thinking if his father also had a restriction placed on him when he came inside. Of he did, and it was the same amount of restriction, what kind of items did his father has for him to finish them off in such a small amount of time.

A jerk brought him back to reality, and in front of him was a Basic Tier Beast, and it was something that Lucas was expecting.

[Basic Tier Beast: Fly-Quito]

[A Basic Tier Beast mutation created from the merging of the Fly and Mosquito. Has the ability to communicate and order both Mosquitoes and Flies]

Lucas smiled as he read the description. He was sure that this was the beast that was behind the organized attack that was made towards him. This was one of the beasts in the Basic Tier category that could command Basic Tiers.

He used the same attack he used above, and there was a buzz from behind him. He smirked as he saw them head towards him. As soon as they reached a certain vicinity of him, the slashes he had sent had turned.

It was now headed towards the creatures that were coming towards him. The flies and mosquitoes died real quick, and now there was nothing that was between him and the boss monster. 

"Didn't expect me to know about your secret stock, did you? I know that you are nothing without your army, and thus I made sure to attack you and make you call for them. And since they are dead right now, let's see how you will fare against me", he smiled.

His smile extended on his face and he did the same move again, and the more he did the move, the deeper his understanding was of the move. At first, he thought that this was something that was a quick draw.

But now, he saw that it was just a base and anyone can make something from the base form. And it was the same for every move that Robert had used. He was in awe of the person who wrote the techniques.

"Such adaptability. The basics are to be learned, and then the move can be developed into something that the person desires. If anyone learns of this deep truth in the style, there will be all kinds of people flocking towards the place to learn it", he thought. 

He was astonished by the realization. Even with his copy style, he had found out. And since Robert had learned it since he was young, there was only one possibility as to why he had yet to unleash the full potential of it.

"He is unaware", he thought of it as he began to look back at his moves. It was fluid, and there was hard work behind it. But what he lacked was the ability to adapt it to his style. He was trying to fit himself into the style.

Lucas planned on telling him the news he had found out and wanted his friend to improve. He was the first friend he made when he came out, and it seemed like he didn't have any ill intentions towards him. And he had also figured out his secret.

He walked towards the typewriter and entered his name, and moved to the next floors. This time, the species was changed. It was grasshoppers and dragonflies which he had to face. Lucas clicked his tongue in frustration. 

"Now, if only I had moved to the next stage, I would have been able to use the family's techniques", he thought as he looked at the number of insects in front of him. It was enough for him to kill them off with his newfound understanding of the Third Form.

He began his killing spree again, and it continued down until the fourteenth floor. After clearing it, he sat on to catch a bit of his breath as he needed that. He had begun wondering if his father was human at all.

"I'm exhausted. Just what did my father have?", he thought as he looked around at the bodies that were scattered all around the place. He was now browsing through the shop and looking if he could find any recovered potions.

"If I do find some, I am going to need a couple of those to clear this place without rest. And to deal with this mental fatigue, Argh!", he grunted in frustration. His frustration was at its peak right now, and he felt like ripping something apart with his bare hands.

He got up and went to the next floor with the same frustration. He was sure that with his condition right now, it was suicide to face the Sub-Boss on his own. But he was sure that if he was too tired, the title would activate.

He bet everything on that title, and he wanted to stand right next to his father. Even it was through something like this, he still wanted to stand right next to his father.. His resolve was resolute, and he went to the next floor.