The mist of the tenth floor swirled gently across the ground and brought a cool and relaxing feeling to its inhabitants.
It laid thick over the land like a blanket that gently tucked you into bed while blinding you to the light like a sleep mask. The gentle white noise of something resonated throughout the floor, forming a wordless lullaby.
"God, I wanna take a nap," I muttered after a few minutes. It was like the dungeon was trying to lure me to sleep rather than kill me.
It was frighteningly close to working. I had spent the last few minutes alternating between fighting to stay awake and circulating Qi throughout my body to help the aches and fatigue.
But I couldn't stay here any longer. I could hear the tell-tale crack of the dungeon walls spawning monsters in the distance and knew if I didn't get out of here now, I was going to have a bad time.
So, with as much grace as a drunk baby deer, I stumbled my way to my feet before turning to what had been my couch for the last few minutes.
The dead beast, I'll call it a drake since it looked like a dragon without wings, still stared at me with hollow eye sockets and a hole in the base of its neck.
Looking at it now, it was creepy, and I couldn't believe I had leaned up against it for the past few minutes. It just goes to show how tired I am, I guess.
However, despite hearing the sounds of monsters in the distance, I refused to leave my prize behind. I leaned down and stuck my hand in the hole at the base of the drake's neck before digging around for a bit.
It took a minute, but I did eventually find the drake's magic stone and took it out. The drake disappeared into smoke and ash, leaving me alone with a crystal about the size of my middle finger.
It was the largest crystal I had gotten so far. A tangible reward for my effort, one that was much better than the crystals I had gotten until this point. I admired it for a moment, a smile on my face as I felt its weight in my hand.
I put it in my ring and began walking toward the stairs with a satisfied nod. My ribs hurt, my arm still shook, and I had a bit of a limp, but everything had been worth it for the drake's crystal.
Now, let's get out of here.
Whoosh
The whistle of something cutting through the wind was my only warning before an imp appeared from the fog and charged at me.
I punched it down from the air; the imp hit the ground with a squeak. However, imps do not hunt alone.
I knew this, but despite seeing it coming, I still couldn't dodge the second or third one in time. Their blades cut into my back and arm before I grabbed one and punted it at the other.
I didn't bend down to collect the magic stones. Nope, this time I employed the timeless strategy of running away toward the stairs.
It was more difficult than I would like to admit. The fact that I had to leave valuable cultivating resources behind grated on me to no end. But I knew I had reached my limit.
The longer I stayed down here, the more injuries I would get and the less likely I would be able to make the climb up.
I kept running and punching the imps as they peppered me, trying to get me to slow down and just kill me. Luckily, I was able to dodge out of the way for most of them, but the cuts were mounting.
I was glad when I reached the stairs and made my way up to the ninth floor. The bright light was a refreshing sight after the fog that covered the tenth floor.
Still, that didn't mean I was in the clear. It was here that I discovered a nice little feature about the dungeon: the monsters could follow you up from the floor below you.
I had thought, mostly hoped, if I'm being honest, that the monsters were locked into the area where they spawned, but nope. Now I was dealing with straggler imps and the monsters on this floor.
The only good news was that the monsters on the ninth floor had a significant difficulty drop compared to the imps. And the drop in difficulty would only get more and more extreme the higher I went up.
I had the very brief hope that I could just run all the way to the surface and not worry about the monsters chasing me, but the cramping in my leg and my labored breathing proved that wasn't happening.
I punched an imp that had gotten too close down before grabbing another one mid-dive and crushing its head.
Another came down and made me dodge to the side, where a shadow was waiting to finish the job.
I elbowed it in the stomach before shoulder checking it out of the way. I couldn't stop and fight, not yet.
The horde behind me grew as I plowed my way forward. I picked off the monsters blocking my way, as any that could catch up with me, like the imps, were quickly dealt with.
But it slowed me down more than I wanted. My legs began to ache in protest as my heartbeat pounded in my ears.
The stairs came into sight just as a random frog decided to aim for my legs. I jumped over the tongue but stumbled on the landing, falling face-first onto the steps.
I felt my hands and chest sting as I landed on the stairs with a thud. I gave a little cough as the ledge of a step hit me right in the stomach, making my already bruised ribs hurt more.
The cry of a goblin lunging at me from behind brought the world back into focus and made me move.
I whipped around and brought my feet up before mule kicking the goblin in the chest. It went flying back into the horde and caused a few of the monsters chasing me to stumble.
That brought me enough time to scramble to my feet and bolt my way up the stairs. I had to use both my hands and feet about halfway up since I tripped, but I did make it back to the eighth floor.
I spared a glance back and saw the horde blocking each other from making it up the stairs. The goblin that I pushed their way was more helpful than I thought.
I didn't stop running as I saw that, though it did lighten the weight on my shoulders. I could use this, not now, but if I could make the stairs, then I could lose some monsters in my mad dash up.
The eighth-floor monsters were slightly easier to kill than their ninth-floor counterparts, but the area still wasn't good enough for me to stay and fight.
A shadow, a kobold, and a goblin tried to block my way. I slide under the shadow's slash before taking a running leap over the kobold and goblin.
Their cries of anger echoed behind me as I ran. I had a lead now, thanks to the stairs. If I kept it up and let them stumble on a few more stairs, I just might be able to lose them.
I continued to duck and weave through the monsters on the eighth floor, ignoring the fact that I now had a new horde behind me. After a few minutes, I saw the stairs again.
I gritted my teeth and pushed myself. My legs were starting to feel like jelly, my lungs burned from lack of air, and my heart felt like it was trying to jump out of my chest.
I bounded my way up the stairs and didn't even bother trying to look back. I could hear the various shouts as the monsters followed up after me.
When I reached the top and the familiar sight of green crystals and cavernous walls, I almost smiled. The shrieks of the monsters behind me, along with my shaking muscles, killed that smile, though.
I rounded a corner and was greeted by an old friend. An ant. I had a flashback to the last time I let one of these bastards live for too long and promptly went out of my way to smash its head in.
It died, and I felt my leg give out on me exactly as it made contact with the ant's head. I pushed my arms out and managed to catch myself on the wall.
I leaned against it and looked down at my leg. The bandage I had tied on it had slipped off at some point, causing it to be dyed red. That, combined with a few other scrapes, was rapidly draining my strength.
A frog launched its tongue at me from the horde when I stopped to check my leg. I threw myself out of the way as the tongue slammed into the wall where my chest was a few moments ago, before it got drawn back in.
I kneeled on the floor and double-checked the wrap around my side. I sighed in relief when I saw it was still there.
A shadow came at me and swiped its claw down from above. I rolled out of the way before trying to kick it with my non-bleeding leg, but it jumped out of the way.
I put strength into my arms and pulled myself up from the ground. I pushed against the wall and locked my knee before putting weight on it. I winced as I felt the muscles protest, but my leg held my weight.
I raised my head just in time to see a frog's tongue coming straight at me. I raised my hand and batted it to the side. I felt my hand throb at the action, but the deflection had succeeded.
It gave me just enough time to look at the horde I had accumulated. I felt my stomach drop and chest squeeze as I saw just how many monsters I had chasing me. And they were catching up.
The few monsters I had been dealing with were those ahead of the pack. I had dozens more to deal with if I wanted to make it out of this alive.
I felt a mix of emotions begin to bubble up in me. Anger and nervousness were chief among them before I crushed all of it underneath logic.
No. No time for emotions. If I wanted to get out of this, then I needed to reach the state I was in when I fought the drake. Pure focus.
Only that wasn't coming to me. I couldn't get my breathing under control, my heartbeat refused to slow down, and my wounds refused to fade into the background.
I grimaced as the shadow lunged at me again. I ducked under it before punching in the chest. It stumbled, letting me reach out and grab its arm. It couldn't struggle in time before I brought my other hand up and gouged its eye out.
I couldn't put the crystal into my ring as I had to use my hand to parry another tongue. I gritted my teeth at the force that left my hand numb, and the crystal went flying from my grip.
I turned my heels and ran. Slower than before, with far more effort, but it was still fast enough to keep ahead of the horde.
I knew I needed to get to the beginning of the floor. The circular corridor would let me even the playing field, but this was not going to be as easy as the ants to deal with.
I tried to think of a plan as I ran, and was coming up frustratingly blank. I knew I couldn't fight them all. I just wasn't in good enough shape for that. But I couldn't just keep running either.
Both because my body couldn't handle the pace I was doing and because it would just let the problem grow. I need to thin the horde here and then try to lose some of them on the stairs like I did before.
I arrived at the center of the circular corridor and blew right past it before turning and making my way around.
There were a few monsters that had split off from the main group, which I could pick off, but it was here that I ran into a little snag with my plan.
The plan worked with the ants because one, they were all ants, so they all moved the same way, and two, the ants weren't that smart.
The horde I was now dealing with was both smarter than the ants and had more than just one type of monster.
Meaning that as soon as the monster horde hit the center room, instead of blindly following me like the ants did, they all spread out and rushed down the corridors.
So now, instead of picking them off one by one, I was having to punch and kick my way through a stream of them, and they kept coming from all around me.
I felt anger beginning to boil in my veins as I ripped out a shadow's eye and elbowed a goblin in the back of the neck. A frog came from the side corridor, a way that was supposed to be my exit, and shot its tongue at me.
I caught the tongue before dragging the stupid thing toward me and punching it into the ground. I bolted forward and shoulder-checked a moth that had somehow gotten up here onto the wall.
I coughed and rubbed my eyes as the stupid thing's dust got in them, but kept going. More monsters fell to my fists and kicks as I forgot about my stupid plan and made a beeline toward the stairs.
A frog's tongue slammed into me, knocking me off course and into an ant. I punched the ant before using it to push off and kept running.
The frog tried to hit me again, but I was already upon it. I stomped on its head and felt it smooshed beneath my boot.
A shadow tried to swipe me, only to find its claws caught in my hands. I pulled it toward me and headbutted it right in its eye. The shadow disappeared into smoke as I successfully cracked its magic stone.
A lizard jumped down from above. It landed on my back and scratched my shoulders. I heaved myself to the side and smashed it against the wall.
Thud.
Let
Thud.
Go
Thud.
Bastard!
Thud.
It disappeared into smoke after a few times, leaving me free. A shadow lunged, but I dodged and grabbed its arm before planting my foot against its chest and pulling.
Its arm came off with a pop, and I kept going. I punched another ant in the face before elbowing a shadow in the wall.
Anger began to fill me because why won't they just get out of the way! I wanna leave, I don't want to keep fighting them.
A goblin lunged and was punted into a frog, who promptly choked on it. A shadow came and scratched my left side since I was dodging late. I balled my first and punched the shadow in the head, and it disappeared into smoke.
My wounds began to throb the longer I was down here. Each new cut, each new bruise began to feed into each other as they all began to sync.
Move!
I kicked through a frog and a kobold, both turning to ash in one hit. Another frog blocked me.
I put my fist through its head and it went poof.
My heartbeat roared in my ears as everything began to fade. The screams of the monsters turned into background noise as my vision began to turn fuzzy.
My whole body felt hot, and everything burned. From my muscles to my wounds, everything began to pulse and throb in time with each other.
I lashed out and put my fist through a shadow's head before whipping around and catching a lizard from the ceiling. I grabbed both of its front legs and pulled.
The lizard gave out a soundless scream as it got ripped apart. I turned and put my foot through an ant and kept going.
The monsters had stopped making noise; they kept attacking, but I couldn't hear them. I couldn't hear anything.
There was static in my ears as I ripped another shadow's arm off before smashing a goblin into paste.
Anything that was in my way was quickly reduced to nothing but ash and smoke. I couldn't focus on anything but the pulse of pain that went through my whole body.
The dungeon's walls cracked and spawned more shadows, but they didn't get to do anything before I smashed my fist through their chests. A frog shot its tongue at me before I caught it and ripped it in half.
Why don't they just get out of my way!
A moth tried to dust me, but I sprinted up the wall and dragged it down. Once it was in my hand, I easily ripped it apart. My leg shot pain throughout me as I landed, but it faded into the background.
Everything faded as I kept going. My anger kept growing as I saw what the dungeon was throwing at me.
A goblin lunged at me, only to get caught and headbutted. Its head exploded and coated me in red. Wait, that was too easy.
Where am I?
The world slammed back into focus as I felt dizzy. I stumbled into a wall and slid down as I grabbed my chest. My chest heaved as I tried and failed to get my breathing under control.
Every movement made pain shoot through my body as I realized just how many wounds I had. My clothes were torn to shreds and dyed red as everything seemed to be bleeding.
My head throbbed and my eyelids felt heavy, but I couldn't go to sleep. If I went to sleep, then I was dead.
My vision slowly came back into focus, and I found I was sitting down in a long hallway underneath gentle blue light.
A set of spiral stairs leading up was at the end of the hallway, letting me know where I was. The first floor, I made it. Somehow.
At the cost of a healthy body because holy shit. OW!
Everything hurts. I haven't felt pain this bad since I had to break every bone in my body. That beats this out, but only just.
I tried to get up, only to feel every muscle in my body protest and give up. My breathing still wasn't calming down, and my heart still felt like it was trying to escape my ribs.
What the hell happened? How did I get this fucked up?
I had that thought when a floor of memories slammed into me. I saw the bloody path I had torn from the seventh floor to here.
I saw myself completely disregard my health and just plow through things despite how much they hurt me.
I just didn't care. I was just so…angry at the dungeon that I didn't care how it happened, I just wanted out.
I just stopped caring and let myself get lost in the bloodshed. I stopped thinking, stopped focusing, and let instincts take over.
Pretty much the opposite of what happened with the drake. Instead of focusing on my opponent, I let my focus go and just felt my emotions.
The result was me being fucked up. I got here, but I could have done that without losing my mind.
Now I was just in a great deal of pain and couldn't do anything. I kept gasping, trying to get my breath under control.
I just sat there for who knows how long until I could finally just hold my breath for a moment before releasing it.
The rhythm that had been with me for so long slowly took hold, and my breath slowed along with my heartbeat. My whole body still aches, but progress was progress.
Now I could use my Qi to start healing my wounds, and I'll be up in no time!
…
…
…
What the fuck happened to my Qi!?
It was just rampaging around, doing whatever the hell it wanted. I tried to tell it to do something, and it just ignored me. Hell, at this rate, it'll make things worse!
I could feel it push and pull against my skin and organs. It wanted to go out, for whatever reason, but I wasn't letting it since I needed it. Without my QI, I'm pretty sure I would just go to sleep.
Alright, think!
My Qi is going out of control. A brief period of memory loss with a violent episode of bloodshed during said memory loss. A damaged body and a shaking mental state.
Come on, what does that sound like? I've read so many Xianxia novels, I can figure this out.
I ran through the terms and phases desperately trying to find something before I remembered I literally have a fucking manual on cultivation and decided to take a look in there,
The Nine Color Purifying Elemental Body Manual flapped open in my mind, and I went through the pages trying to find something that matched what I was currently experiencing.
Found it!
I was on the brink of Qi deviation.
Essentially, when you get too emotional, your Qi will reflect that and start going haywire. If you didn't calm it down then it would forcibly exit your body and leave you heavily injured or crippled.
I needed to calm my Qi down before that happened. Then I could worry about using it to soothe my injuries.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The rhythm came easily this time, now I just needed to calm my mind.
I slowly went through what I had just experienced. I wasn't getting angry at myself for what I did. I could do that later.
No, what I did was just go through and acknowledge what had happened and how it had happened. I had gotten angry and tired of the dungeon, especially after the drake fight, and had just wanted to get out.
As the injuries mounted, and the longer I was kept from going back up, the more these feelings grew. That, combined with the physical pain of all my injuries, resulted in my mental state spiraling.
All of that then resulted in my little episode where I did my best impression of a berserker. My Qi tried its best to keep up, but it had no organization or input from me. Hence, Qi deviation.
I sorted through all my emotions and felt the lingering frustration I had for myself slowly fade into… not acceptance but acknowledgement.
I would need some time to accept it fully, but I knew where my mistakes happened. Ignorance of the dangers of the dungeon, disregard of my injuries, and not thinking about how exactly I was going to get back up.
The first one was unavoidable and will always be the case, no matter what I do. I do not have anyone to ask about the dungeon, and I will never know without experiencing it myself.
The second and third points should not happen again in the future. Or rather, they can't happen in the future. This first dive had taught me just how dangerous the dungeon was, even at the levels where I normally wouldn't feel a challenge.
It sucked that I couldn't push myself as much as I would have liked to, but the necessity of saving some of my strength to make it back up means that a fight like the drake is just off the table.
I will do better in the future. I'll still push myself, after all, what's the point of coming down here if I don't, but I will make sure I have enough energy to make it back up without devolving into this mess.
As I reflected, my Qi calmed down enough for me to guide it where it needed to go. Mainly my legs and big cuts. I felt it soothe the ache just a bit and continued my meditation, lost in the feeling of my body slowly putting itself back together.
The sound of laughter broke me from my meditation. My eyes snapped open and darted over to where the sound had come from.
The stairs.
The sounds of people laughing, talking, and walking down the stairs were drawing closer. It took a minute for my brain to catch up to what that meant.
People were coming down here. Adventurers were coming down into the dungeon. The dungeon that no one was allowed in unless they were in a familia.
People in familias were coming down here!
The thought snapped me into action. I had recovered enough that I could stand, but fighting was out of the question.
I climbed to my feet as fast as I could and tried to think of a plan. The adventurers are coming back down, which probably means it's morning.
From the sounds of the footsteps coming this way, there was a rush of people coming down. If I can blend into the crowd or wait until the rush of people dies down, then I can make my way back up with no one questioning anything.
I looked down and saw the bloodied rags that were once my clothes, and realized just how badly I stood out right now.
I couldn't just change my clothes; my injuries were still bleeding. They would just get soaked with blood again, and I didn't have enough time.
I need to cover up…
Oh, my cloak!
I quickly pulled out my travel cloak from my ring and put it on. The cloak settled on my shoulders, and I ignored the pain from it touching the cuts on them. I tied the string to keep it secure and put my arms to my sides, letting the front close and cover my body.
I thought about putting my hood up, but realized that a hooded, cloaked figure waiting by the dungeon entrance was the most suspicious thing I've ever heard and quickly discarded that idea.
I looked around before I decided to lean up against the wall like I was waiting for someone. No sooner had I gotten situated when the first adventurers stepped foot in the dungeon.
It was a pair of men, one was human and the other had cat ears and a tail. They both wore leather armor and had swords at their hips, along with a pouch. They were talking to each other when they spotted me and stopped.
I watched in fascination as the chaotic Qi of the dungeon collided with their skin, only to be repelled with little effort. I let the Qi enter me and calmed it before letting it go with every breath I took; they just didn't let the dungeon's QI in.
I realized I had been staring for too long and quickly turned my gaze away from them and behind them. I looked around and saw a steady stream of adventurers coming down before moving my eyes to face forward.
I kept myself alert but didn't make my attention overly obvious as the duo approached me. Each step brought them closer, and the anticipation began boiling in me as I hoped this wouldn't devolve into a fight.
I clenched my fist as they reached striking distance and started playing the scenario out in my head. If they did reach for their swords, my best option would be to run away.
Go to the stairs and try to lose them in the mass of people. I can't go deeper into the dungeon; that would not go well for me. I just have to hope I'm faster than them, even in my injured state.
Except, nothing happened. They both gave me a nod of acknowledgement, which I returned a little woodenly before they went on their way.
As did the next few groups of people. They either didn't acknowledge me or just gave a little nod and continued on their way.
It was then that I heaved a sigh of relief and started walking toward the stairs. A few people gave me some questioning looks as they saw me going up, but nobody said anything or tried to stop me.
None of them seemed to know that I wasn't a part of a familia. Could they not sense a god's blessing like I could?
I had that thought, but had no way of proving it other than just asking. And I wasn't going to draw attention to myself by doing that when I was finally free.
I made it to the top of the stairs with no hassle and exited the giant tower to the bustling plaza and gentle sun rise.
I had spent the whole night in the dungeon, much to my chagrin. I felt my eyes begin to sag again and realized I was about to pass out.
I picked a random direction and just started walking. Hopefully, I can find a bench to sleep on or something. I was pretty much dead on my feet, especially now that the adrenaline and worry had faded.
I wandered around for a few minutes before I came across an old church. It looked abandoned, and after knocking and opening the doors, I could confirm no one was there.
It had broken windows, a hole in the roof, and a few broken pews. But other than that, it was surprisingly clean for something that looked abandoned for the last few years.
It was perfect.
I staggered over to the nearest non-broken pew and took off my cloak before using it as a pillow and lying down.
I didn't even feel my wounds as I laid down, for I had fallen asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.
==============================
Yay! Finally done with the first dungeon dive arc!
Leon got his ass kicked. Mostly due to his own stupidity, but he lived, so he should learn, right?
Right?
Well, eventually. The fact that maybe he should get someone to ask questions to or watch his back while down there hasn't even occurred to him.
I honestly didn't expect the first dungeon dive to take this long, but I'm happy with it for the most part. I got to establish his power level relative to the dungeon and explore a bit.
The pace of him just blitzing past the floors is not going to last now that he knows where he needs to go to grind, as it were. He will have to get used to the dungeon and what it has to offer; this experience has made him more cautious.
He's still him, though. So expect more idiocy in the future. He'll get better, but it'll be a slow process. Balancing that process will be tricky, and I understand how frustrating it can be to read an MC that is absolutely brain-dead with no development.
I shall try my best to balance his progression, but feedback is always appreciated. Everyone has different levels for when it's gone too far, and if about half the people think it's gone too far, then it's gone too far.
Anywho, next time Leon meets new characters and gets a whiff of the consequences of his actions.
Till next time, friends.