"So this is the 13th floor, huh? You may go now, little one."
The infant dragon roared in joy and charged toward the distance. I waved him goodbye.
"Be careful, little one. We'll see each other again."
The 13th–17th Floors are known as the Cave Labyrinth. The entrance to the 13th Floor is called the First Line. From here onward, the walls, ground, and ceiling turn to bedrock. While the upper floors were simple, circular mazes, the middle floors weave into complex layouts of intertwining upper and lower tunnels. The light dims, and the air turns moist. Vertical shafts leading deeper appear at random. On the 17th Floor, a massive wall looms within a grand chamber — the Big Wall of Grief — where the Monster Rex, Goliath, spawns.
The layout grows more intricate, and monsters spawn faster than in the upper levels, making these floors perilous for solo adventurers of Level 2. The monsters on the 13th and 14th Floors are not much stronger than those on the 12th, allowing early-stage Level 2s to explore safely. But from the 15th to 17th Floors, Level 2-class monsters such as Minotaurs begin to appear, and only mid-stage Level 2 adventurers are advised to venture through and reach the 18th Floor alive.
Adventurer levels are divided into two paths — Mortal Levels and Divine Levels.
Mortal Levels are the standard and well-known across the Old World, ranging from Level 1 to Level 10. Divine Levels, however, are a secret known only to the first-tier adventurers — the elites and the gifted.
This stage lies beyond Level 10. Upon reaching it, one's Falna evolves into divine essence, granting the bearer godlike power — a lower deity in form. At that point, the Falna offers a choice: ascend and become a god, severing the system entirely, or remain a demigod and continue leveling endlessly. In the latter case, the Falna fuses into the soul, self-updating without divine aid. According to the gods, there is no limit; as long as one possesses the strength and talent, any level can be reached.
The Divine Levels, also known as the Demigod Levels, range from Level 11 to infinity — and beyond.
Adventurers gain "Excelia" (experience) through battle and great feats. To level up, one must perform an achievement so grand it overloads the Falna with Excelia. When this happens, the adventurer ascends, and their stats reset to "I0" — but their old stats remain hidden, forming the foundation of their new strength.
To grow stronger, they must raise their new stats again — climbing from Rank I to S, with S being the pinnacle. Each rank corresponds to a value from 0 to 999, though according to Eina, the true limit is SSS at 1,200. Many adventurers believe S999 is the ceiling only because none have ever broken through — or none who did survived to tell it.
Each Level is divided into four stages:
Early Stage (I–G Rank) — the beginning of growth, weak and unrefined.
Middle Stage (F–D Rank) — the body adapts, instincts sharpen.
Late Stage (C–B Rank) — power takes shape, presence solidifies.
Peak Stage (A–S Rank and beyond) — strength transcends the mortal frame.
Level scale:
Level 1: Can face groups alone, yet far from heroic.
Level 2: A force capable of erasing a village.
Level 3: Can annihilate a large settlement.
Level 4: Enough might to destroy a town; feared by many.
Level 5: A calamity in human form, a city-leveller.
Level 6: A being who can crush mountains and alter landscapes.
Level 7: A nation destroyer whose mere battle reshapes the land.
Level 8: A world shaker, capable of erasing continents.
Level 9: A god of ruin, one strike enough to obliterate continents.
Level 10: The peak of mortals — an Old World Destroyer, equivalent to planetary level before the great change.
16th Floor.
I leapt into a hole, sliding down rapidly. Moments later, I fell from a high ceiling, thousands of meters from the ground. With a light flip, I landed gracefully — weightless, like a feather.
I looked around. Before me stretched a vast chamber — thousands of miles across, fifty times larger than Orario. It spanned 5,000 miles in width, and the distance from floor to ceiling reached 2,000 meters.
The space was square-shaped, its walls, floor, and ceiling forged from bedrock. Yet one wall — the right one — was pure, transparent crystal. Within it slept a humanoid monster hundreds of meters tall, roughly 600 in height.
Its skin was gray, like ash. It was naked and genderless, shaped like a perfect muscular giant. That colossal being, slumbering within the crystal wall, was none other than Goliath — a Level 4 monster whose sheer size raised its true threat to Level 5.
Suddenly, a violent tremor erupted, shaking the ground beneath my feet. I turned toward the crystal wall — the Wall of Grief.
The sleeping Goliath opened its eerie, crimson eyes — void of reason or emotion.
It moved.
The wall cracked like glass as a massive arm broke through. Goliath stepped out of the Wall of Grief and rose to full height, a mountain of flesh and power. Its gaze locked onto mine, releasing its full aura — a crushing, oppressive magic.
But to me, it was nothing.
"Do you want a fight?" I asked softly. "Sorry, that won't be necessary."