It was around midday when the expedition team embarked to the dungeon's depths. The members who came down with them were numerous, and ultimately some people came from other familias to join in the fun, and keep things under control. It did not take them long to arrive at the Under Garden.
It was here, Shurry hunted down several of the special tasty monsters, great stag, and had the cooks focused on preparing the meat for everyone, in their own preferred ways. Shurry, had his raw, devouring the innards… Neze and Rose also partook of the innards, the three werewolves wagging their tails with reckless abandon. Alfia, and Ardee had a different reaction.
"It's a really powerful flavor… And gamey…" Alfia spoke with a measured disappointment.
"It isn't bad, but I think I prefer the regular meat over the innards." Ardee added.
As if being in sync with each other, they smirked with a glint in their eyes.
"Hubby, open wide!"
"Huh-" Shurry reacted, opening his mouth a bit, to speak, when two great stag livers were shoved into his mouth from different angles. Not one to refuse food, he devoured the meat, and licked his lips of the blood. Then he licked Ardee, and Alfia's hands clean of the blood. "Delicious! So good!!!!"
"Pfft! Ahahaha! Looks like there's still a bit of the kid in you after all." Zald laughed.
"When it comes to freshly hunted prey, I simply can't get enough of it." Shurry chuckled.
Neze and Rose, jealous that they were behind now, picked up one of the great stag lungs, each taking a bite out of it, and then, abusing her faster speed, Neze made it to Shurry first, and shared a kiss, exchanging the organ through said kiss.
"Neze, you beat me to it…" Rose chewed and then pushed her way in to do the same thing.
"Sometimes I wonder if I should say get a room, or attempt to break up a fight, or to congratulate you?" Leon chuckled.
"Don't worry Uncle Leon. There's lots of things werewolves do that other races may find a bit… odd."
"Yeah, that's true of every race…"
"You'd better not think about leaving anytime soon, Leon. You're gonna be there for our kid."
More banter, and teasing went on for the rest of dinner time. And usually, this would turn into the next logical step of sleeping, but not this time. This was not going to be a light hearted, easy going, paced dive. Camp was only set up purely for the practice… They tore it back down, and made their way further down, quickly reaching the 39th floor, another resting point.
There, they tried their best to get some actual rest, however, they'd have to do it without setting up camp. This was training meant to test their ability to resist the dungeon's madness… By thrusting them head first into the madness the pressure would mount much faster than normal. Even Leon was struggling a little bit with the given situation. He and everyone else save for Shurry hadn't been mentally prepared for this. And just as soon as the last person to begin struggling with the madness showed signs…
"Alright, that's enough waiting around." Shurry stretched. "We're moving deeper, let's go."
Shurry's words caused a wave of confusion within the training expedition. However, no one wanted to be the one to ask. As for the werewolves, and Chienthropes, there wasn't as much confusion, though that didn't stop the madness of the dungeon from piling on top of them.
When it came to Alfia and Zald, they knew exactly what Shurry was doing. The preparations were clearly meant to push everyone to the breaking point of their mental states, to push them into the state of mind where they could only push forward regardless of whatever may come their way.
As for Ardee and Neze, they could sorta tell what Shurry was thinking purely due to their connection with him. Rose, on the other hand, while having a similar connection, it was more recent… She also had to deal with the issue of being a brand new level 1 adventurer. However, something all three of them understood was that there was a well thought out purpose to this mental, and physical strain.
And so after a total of five days, with high speed movement prioritizing the descent into hell, they arrived on the 66th floor, completely exhausted, with the exception of Alfia, Leon, Shurry, and Zald. Leon being a level 8 was a bit more resistant to the situation at hand, though he was right on the cusp of exhaustion.
"You have 4 hours to rest, and do whatever you want. After the time is up, I will be serving as the monster you'll all face, with the exception of Ardee, Alfia, and Neze. Also, if anyone else is currently pregnant, you will not participate either. That means you too Tsubaki."
Embarrassed they were outed right there, it was just enough to push Leon the rest of the way to his mental limit. Four hours passed so quickly to them, it might as well have been the blink of the eye, some had got some much needed sleep. Others managed to get something to eat, and take a bath… though they would quickly come to find that the bath might as well have been pointless. Why? Because it was time, time to get some truly grueling training in, something akin to a mix of Spartan & SERE training.
With both the mind & body having reached their perceived limits, it was now time to push them beyond…
With Zald serving as the main frontliner, with Leon as the back up, the rest of the expedition members worked together to put pressure on Shurry. It… Didn't work, and with a single platform of light, everyone was launched away. After this Shurry cracked his neck, and knuckles.
"You're not bad, definitely strong enough to handle the next floors with little aid on my part, even in that state you're in. Zald, Leon, gather the non wargame members and launch an assault on the 67th floor. I'll continue training the others here."
"Sounds like a plan, Shurry." Zald chuckled, breathing heavily.
"Once you're done down there, come back, and give them some examples of Afterglow."
"Heh, really running us ragged aren't ya?"
"This is how it must be, to truly achieve strength beyond that of others. Though you already knew that."
"Yeah, I get it… Bell, Meda! Do your best!"
Zald and Leon took teams away, and just as someone asked if they could take a short break, the glare they got made them shut up and just continue forward, despite the fact they felt like everything was eating away at them from the inside.
"Shurry, we're going to be fighting against an overwhelmingly large force of numbers. Ones that can be revived rather easily… What should…"
"Overpower them. Each of you is going to learn how to handle fighting dozens of opponents at once. Though not just yet. You're going to be fighting me with everything you've got, really come at me. No holding back."
"Alright then, ladies, Bell, and Donathan, let's do this." Alise's face grew serious and focused.
"Uncle I'm going to give it my all!" Bell shouted, with a powerful cheer. Showing he had more grit than anyone else there.
What began was a one-sided display of the massive gap there truly was between Shurry and everyone else. He would catch powerful magical spells, crushing them in his palm… Move around attacks with a fluid ease and lightly tap everyone in a place they left open to attack.
"Heh, it's just like how we trained years ago." Neze commented from the side.
"Yeah, he really wants to make all of them stronger. Simply fighting him will be a huge boon to their status, and their technique." Ardee smiled.
"I just hope Rose reaches level 2 when we return to the surface… I should help with the Afterglow demonstrations too. That won't cause our baby any issues."
Their training continued for just over 2 weeks, only resting 4 hours every 72 hours. It was truly the most grueling experience they'd had in their lives. Not a single one of them had dropped out of the training… A testament to the sheer grit, and mental fortitude required, to never give up. And then they made their way to the surface, faster than they had descended…
…