Floor thirty-one was eerie and dark, with low lighting and a cold environment.
"I can detect traps all around us," Aaric muttered and waved his hand, transfiguring the ground around the triggers of the traps so they did not get triggered when they stepped on them.
They saw a pack of shadow wolves stalking them in the distance.
"They are supposed to roam in packs of six at the highest, but here we have a pack double that size," Aaric observed and shrugged.
"Let's try something new, love. You fight these monsters while I form rituals around them. I will try and perform rituals on them as you are in combat with them," Aaric said to Daphne.
Daphne nodded and stepped forward, her spear in hand. Her spear tip lit up in a golden light as she charged at the wolves.
The shadow wolves had the ability to sink into the shadows and turn intangible briefly to avoid attacks and execute sneak attacks.
Daphne activated the Observer skill and Sage skill at full strength. She then sent out periodic bursts of magic from her body to sense the environment around her.
She used both those skills to filter the large amount of information she was getting.
Just behind her, Aaric took out his wand and formed complex magic circles in the area.
As Daphne damaged any wolf, the blood was soaked by the magic circle.
No matter what the wolves did, Daphne made short work of them, as she would just appear in front of a wolf whenever it exited the shadows, her spear ready to impale it.
It took mere minutes to kill the whole pack even as Daphne was taking her time to improve her spear skills.
"Stay there, love," Aaric told her after she killed all the wolves.
Daphne tilted her head but then shrugged and stood in the middle of the ritual circle littered with monster cores and skill scrolls.
{Request to Merge 'Sage' and 'Observe received'}
Daphne heard the voice of the world in her mind and smiled as she realized what Aaric was doing.
{Denied}
{Shadow Merge skill sacrificed}
As Daphne heard that, she saw several skill scrolls that were around her disappear.
{Thought Communication skill sacrificed}
Another batch of skill scrolls disappeared.
{Request granted}
{Unique skill: Insight Architect formed from the fusion}
Daphne heard in her mind, and she could feel her perception and mental capacity increase by a large margin as the world around her seemed to slow down.
She could see the world in great detail as if every secret in every corner of it lay bare before her.
During this process, a large amount of magical energy escaped the ritual circle and entered her body to facilitate the formation of the skill.
A skill scroll floated in front of Daphne and opened, the runes and words written on it dissolving and turning into magical energy to facilitate the next step.
"Think of the ability you just gained, love, as if you wish to write it on this scroll," Daphne heard Aaric's voice and thought of the information she had gained about the new skill [Insight Architect].
Slowly, words and runes started forming on the scroll as Daphne used the skill itself to make a copy of it.
Some other skill scrolls scattered around also opened and merged with the one floating in front of her, as the monster cores also dissolved into pure energy to facilitate the process.
It took half an hour, and the skill scroll was formed, shining blue in color and floating in front of her.
Daphne broke her concentration and let out a breath. "You did great." She looked ahead and saw Aaric looking at her with affection, holding her cheek.
Daphne smiled and leaned in to place a tender kiss on Aaric's lips.
Aaric took the scroll after the kiss ended and saw Luna standing beside him.
"Come, Angel," Aaric said, holding Luna's hand and making the skill scroll float between them.
They both put their magic into the skill scroll as it glowed a bright blue.
{Unique skill: Insight Architect Acquired}
They both heard in their minds and felt the world around them in a vastly different way, as if it was much larger than before but also in the palm of their hands.
"Let's move to the lower floors," Aaric suggested, and the girls agreed with smiles on their faces.
"Now it feels like there is a separate consciousness in my mind, constantly performing calculations and studying all my magic and skills," Daphne said as they walked toward the lower floors.
"That is what we want. These skills are a part of us, so there is no danger in that, and as we learn more about our abilities through the skill, we will be able to use them at their full potential," Aaric said, smiling at Daphne, who was walking beside him as she hugged his arm, Luna doing the same on the other side.
They moved through the floors at great speed now as Aaric used his ritual magic to turn the monsters into skills and mana cores.
The treasure chests on these floors gave them some things that actually intrigued them.
There were some swords and weapons with different properties or superior quality that would make good gifts to give in their home world.
The boss on the fortieth level was the Tempest Serpent, which gave them Poison Breath and Lightning Attack skill scrolls, as well as an A-ranked monster core.
The treasure chest gave them the Amulet of Magic Channeling. It was a brown-colored amulet that acted as a magical focus and increased the ease and output of magic.
'Floor forty safe point added,' they saw on their bracelets as they entered the door that led them to the forty-first floor.
The traps on these floors were even more numerous than the previous ones.
"These monster ambush triggers are great. We can trigger them to have a large number of monsters attack us all at once," Aaric muttered and scanned the area around him to check if there were any other parties present.
"Looks like there is one party here that is about to enter the next floor. We can trigger all these at the same time then," Aaric added and glanced at Luna and Daphne, who just shrugged.
They waited about five minutes as the other party moved to the next floor.
Aaric triggered the traps all at once, and a large number of Frost Wyrms flooded the floor, and because they were the only party in the whole floor, the Wyrms rushed at them together.
Frost Wyrms were S-ranked snake-type monsters that could rival young ice dragons. They were being led by an S-plus-ranked alpha as they charged at Hades' warriors.
"How about we create a funnel or dome for them first, so we can fight them in a controlled area and not when they are on all sides of us?" Daphne suggested.
Aaric nodded and took out his wand, starting to transfigure the ground around him to restrict and direct the flow of the monsters.
He then signaled to the girls, and the three of them started flying in circles around the Wyrms as the Wyrms followed them in the direction Aaric wanted.
It took Aaric fifteen minutes, and after that, they were standing with a wall behind them and a dome in front of them, with all the Wyrms stuck there, hissing.
Aaric glanced at Daphne, and she nodded.
Daphne then made an opening in the dome and entered it to perform a massacre on the Wyrms.
"She has improved a lot... It's like she is dancing around them now," Aaric commented as he saw Daphne moving around the Wyrms with the grace and agility as if she had been using the spear all her life.
The alpha hissed and formed ice spikes around Daphne as she dodged with grace while the large Wyrm let out a great ice breath toward her.
Daphne crouched and locked eyes with the alpha. The sound of wind tearing was heard, and Daphne appeared mid-air, just below the neck of the alpha.
She spun, slashing sideways as the spear's edge glowed in a golden light. The spear's edge sheared through frozen scales, cutting one Wyrm clean in half, its body collapsing in a spray of white blood.
The lesser Wyrms did not take much longer to fall, as Daphne killed more than one with every swipe or thrust of her spear.
One S-plus-ranked and about a hundred S-minus-ranked monsters core were littered in the area as Daphne returned to Aaric's side. Her clothes were the same as when she entered, not a single drop of blood on them.
Skill scrolls of Absolute Zero, Command, Ice Bite, Cone of Cold Breath, and Death Throes were littered around the dome as well.
Daphne snapped her fingers as she walked, and everything was stored in the pouch.
"You were beautiful out there, my light," Aaric whispered in her ear as she returned, earning a blush from her.
A/n: Give me your thought on the chapter and reviews on the novel.
And power stones please.. if you want bonus chapters.