The Water Palace and New Teacher
'If it wasn't for that first strike . . . This battle would have gone quite differently. Although I can exert a combat prowess similar to that of a Level 4 adventurer's, it take far to much out of me and I cant maintain that state for long . . . I guess my plans will have to be changed a little again . . .'
Arriving at this conclusion, Nox then defined his new course of action.
'I want to try and fight the next Green Dragon up front but I'll need to increase my status a fair bit before doing so if I want to be assured of my victry. It's not very likely for the second location to be discovered by other adventurers so I can afford to take some time . . .'
'Instead of saving my studying of dragons for the last one, I can start with this one instead and improve my ability by training in the lower floors. The recommended Level for them is three so as long as I avoid stuff like the Monster Rex Amphisbaena and Voltimerias, I should have a relatively good chance of success, specially with my Undine Invictus . . .'
He thought about what to do as he harvested the blood of the defeated dragon before removing its magic stone and picking up two drop items. Nox then harvested the Treasure Tree and finally was done for today. After recovering from his battle with the Green Dragon in his safehouse in the 24th floor he went back to the 18th to meet Lili and help her train.
The next day, in the afternoon, Nox met with the potion making teacher Loki had found for him, her name was Airmid Teasanare, an incredibly beautiful, (as it is the norm in this world), silver haired and purple eyed girl akin to a masterfully crafted doll.
A Level 2 just like Nox, the development ability she chose was Mystery but she was actually quite skilled in the making of potions, the primary items sold in her familia's shop. Speaking of which, she was the captain and head doctor of the Dian Cecht Familia, a familia specialized in healing and producing healing items and prosthesis for adventurers mostly.
Airmid was the kind of person that was easy to get along with due her kind and friendly demeanor as well as her calm attitude but since she treated pretty much everyone in the same manner, she was actually relatively difficult to get into a deeper relationship with.
Since she was beautiful and capable, Nox could not hold back his instincts of seduction and his base as a handsome and talented adventurer certainly helped but not much with this particular girl. No, this time, Nox had to take a more personal approach and that was through Airmid's immense pride in her profession as a healer.
Due to this, she was very willing to teach him various methods of first aid despite it not being in the contract and was quite thrilled when Nox showed interest in learning even more thus making them quite a bit closer than she was with others. It was still far from being a romantic relationship but now that Nox had an excuse to spend a lot of time with her, such feelings had room to develop.
These events of course led to even less time in the dungeon but this was fine to Nox since he was already prepared and accepting of this small disadvantage. Once he was a level he considered acceptable, he would shift his attention back to the dungeon, hopefully by that time, his relationships with his beautiful teachers will have taken a turn for the hotter, hehehehe . . .
Still, Nox had to discuss with Eina about going further into the dungeon. To prevent her from arguing against him without revealing more of his abilities, he had asked Loki to give him written permission and since she was a goddess who could be considered experienced in this matters, it should be enough to get Eina of his back if not, he could always mention his magnificent win against the Green Dragon.
As for why he felt like he needed to report to Eina . . . First of all, she was his advisor and was supposed to know about these things but more importantly, Nox really appreciated her study sessions about the dungeon since they allowed him to gain a lot of useful info before his dives.
As expected, the beautiful half elf was not thrilled with the idea of Nox going to the Lower Floors but in the end, Nox's careful preparations, permission from Loki, previous history of success and the fact that he was actually looking forward to her lessons convinced her to support his decision.
In truth, Eina was quite beside herself with blushing excitement when Nox personally requested for extra lessons on the next few floors. No adventurer she had managed endured her lessons and grew tired of them pretty quickly in fact, most of them that endured more than others did so due to their interest in her and not the lessons.
So when Nox came out and asked she felt truly great! Like a big sister teaching her adventurous little brother about the world . . . 'Her incredibly attractive and not blood related little brother . . .' Eina thought the last part while furiously blushing. Maybe she was looking forward to these lessons for other reasons than Nox's safety . . .
The Lower Floors were divided into different parts. The Water Palace for the 25th to 27th floors with the former marking the beginning of the Great Fall, a huge waterfall estimated to be 400 meters wide and twice that in length, which lasts until the the latter floor.
The 25th Floor was also described as being a paradise of water. In order to move on to the next floor, adventurers must navigate through a series of passageways varying in elevation around the waterfall to reach the passageway at the bottom of their current floor.
The bottom of the waterfall basin on the 27th Floor led out to Melen's, a port town near Orario, Lolog Lake, though it's unknown where the water goes now due to the exit being sealed using the Leviathan's remains.
The Monster Rex Amphisbaena is located here and can freely move between the floors and the labyrinth area. Adventurers can squeak by as Level 2 down to the 27th Floor but the standard for the Lower Floors is Level 3.
The 28th to 36th floors were more of a prehistoric earth type environment whose monsters were of the dinosaur type with a safety point existing in these floors as well.
(A/N: I just made that up since the 28th-36th floors are not actually described in the series, if they are later, I might change it but since Nox is continuously getting stronger, he'll just move on to the deep floors anyway so I don't really care that much.)
The monsters found in this area were all new additions not seen in previous floors. Poison Vermi, poisonous bug monsters whose body fluid can stop skin from decaying, Raider Fishes; Harpies; Sirens; Blue Crabs; Aqua Serpents, ten foot long monsters with a snake head and light green scales;
Crystal Turtles, monsters that have crystals growing from their shells and sometimes mistaken for land; Devil Mosquitos; Light Quartzes, monster that attack its enemies with beams of light; Crystaroth Urchins, blue ball shaped monsters with sharp needles growing from it. They spin toward its target at high speed, destroying their surroundings with their needles, and eat its prey with their round mouths which are full of fangs;
Iguazu, Crimson swallow monsters that are referred to as an invisible monster because of their astounding speed. They live in the cliff behind the Great Fall. As they travel at high speeds, they die on impact, though they will attack until they destroy the enemy regardless of any losses;
Mermaids, rare monsters that have bluish white women's upper bodies, completely white eyes, green hair, and a fin for a lower body. They attack by charming adventurers by singing; Mermen, humanoid monsters covered in blue scales with webbed hands which they use to wield nature weapons. They travel in groups, with one Merman Leader controlling each group whose death can disorient the others;
These would be Nox's source of valuable drops and Execilia for the foreseeable future. There were still the Voltimeria, the Amphisbaena and Kelpies which were a bit too powerful for him to handle right now and thus were to be avoided on detection, thankfully with his advanced Mind Pulse, Nox could detect these threats before they detected him.
Other than gathering a lot of valuable drops and improving his status, Nox had two additional goals. One was to find a nice safe place for a hideout that was not used by the Xenos, the other was to tame a mermaid for a regular source of blood with potent healing properties. After feeding her with enough magic stones, they would probably improve as well and Nox was looking forward to it.
The next few months would be extremely busy indeed!
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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!
The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.
You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.
There's also my other novel Kage of Kages, do check it out!
I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.