Chapter 113 - No Monsters

We crossed through the seventh and made sure to avoid the large crowds of people. Large guilds, some popular and others not, all surrounded the entrance to the Hollow.

We barely got close to it before somebody came over and turned us away. Luckily for us though, there were other ways to progress through the floor. Tunnels, many branched over to every direction but with a good idea of where to go, it became easy.

For most people, it would take quite a while to map these tunnels but not for me. The round map icon in the corner of my vision was a lifesaver. We made it over with no problems and even avoided any fights thanks to the larger guilds clearing out the floor beforehand.

{User has entered Floor 8}

Chills ran down my spine as the pop-up message ran across my field of vision. We entered the purple-stoned caverns of the Floor and it wasn’t quite like anything we had seen before. My eyes rushed over the view in amazement and Veldor commented on my excitement.

“It’s quite a surprise, isn’t it?”

His voice sounded sympathetic, I couldn’t believe it was coming from his lips. In a surprised stutter, I forced out a reply.

“Y-yeah it sure is. It’s a completely different colour from the previous floors.”

Veldor smirked. “Yeah well, it’s about to get a whole lot tougher from here on out. The colour isn't the only thing different, the layout is too. The tunnels become a lot longer and less split off, so the amount of monsters we run into is going to be nearly double.”

My mouth bent to a smile as I pictured the experience points in our future.

“Is all the materials on this floor this tough?” Arga winced as she tapped the hard stone walls surrounding us.

“Pretty much. Now come on, let’s get going. Monsters might be less active near the beginning but this Floor has its share of surprises too.”

We ventured further in, not many monsters appeared but the few that did were taken out nearly immediately. A few Salamanders and a Shadow Howler, nothing too bad. The experience wasn't anything special but I did manage to gain a new skill from it.

{Passive Skill: Magma Scale} - {User summons an armour of thin scales to resist heat}

Heat resistance sounds pretty cool but when could I honestly say that I’ll need this? Maybe I could use it for fighting something with fire attacks…for now, it’s a no-use skill.

“The monsters seem pretty close to what we’ve faced on the Seventh floor, I thought there were more?”

Veldor’s face turned worried as he stared off ahead. We had been walking for quite a while and only ran into a handful of monsters since entering the Floor. It seemed as though I wasn't the only one concerned.

“Yeah, this isn’t quite right…maybe something is drawing their attention elsewhere?”

Arga placed her arms behind her neck and walked with a relaxed demeanour. “Another party?”

“I doubt it, most adventurers weren’t going anywhere near the Tower. We should be alone on this floor…something else is happening here.”

I looked down at my skill tree once more and searched for the Danger Sense skill when suddenly I felt Veldor grab the back of my collar. I caught sight of his face before being thrown back and the look of terror brimming from his eyes was extreme.

The terrors of the Tower.

A large blade–curved and aimed at my head–sliced through the air. I narrowly avoided it thanks to Veldor’s quick actions but even so, my cheek received a small cut on the way back.

“That speed…what the hell was that?”

I looked up and a large figure emerged from around the corner. Two bloodthirsty eyes peered down at us and immediately my eyes gravitated to the yellow tusks sticking out of the corner of its mouth.

{Green Orc Lv17}

Veldor raised his shield and stepped ahead of us. He took the lead even though he looked terrified. We jolted to attention and fell into our battle positions behind him.

Arga’s sword aimed forward and my blades remained in front of me as I held a boxing pose. Veldor’s foot moved no more than an inch and the monster charged him.

Its muscular body towered over him with an unreal size. It charged with its axe in hand and took a wide swing, forcing a gust of wind behind its attack.

Veldor’s eyes enlarged as the blade drew closer towards him and he stepped back. The blade sliced the air and a thick breeze forced our hair back with rapid sways.

An enormous wave of pressure slammed into my face from such a large distance away.

“Don’t let it hit you! Not even my shield’s going to do anything to stop it.”

For Veldor to have said that, he must have known how much of a gap there was between us and that thing. Even so…my legs were rearing to go! I wanted to fight.

I burst forward and took the lead, my feet hit the walls of the tunnel and I leapt into the air above it. At an angle from the Orc, I sent my blades flying down and they soared through the gap between us.

The Orc snapped its body towards me, and with a dull expression of rage, it released another swing and cleared my blades out of the air.

I winced as my Chakrams dropped out of the air like flies.