"Congratulations, but don't celebrate too early—we still have more work to do," Suzu said.
Still not done?
"Of course not. Remember what I told you? Aside from mana manipulation, you also need to master other movements like mana absorption, mana conversion, and mana enhancement."
"Each of these includes several smaller stages, and you'll need to master all four if you want the skill to level up. Falling behind in any one of them will make using magic harder for you."
Wait, hold on!
I need a break.
Sitting still for days has really worn me out, so I need to move around a bit.
"Yeah, that's fine. While you're doing that, I'll prepare everything needed to support you."
Thanks, Suzu.
"It's… nothing, really."
Now then… what should I do…?
I say "take a break," but what I actually want is to stretch my legs—or more precisely, fight.
But is there anything left to fight on this sixth floor, now that most of the powerful areas have already been cleared out?
Maybe I should just go to the next floor.
I've been on the sixth floor for about a month already, so it's starting to get boring.
Hmm… I think I'll head to the next floor.
Hey Seina, draw me a path to the seventh floor.
"I'm busy right now!"
Huh…?
What's her deal??
Whatever, I can find my way without a map, so I'll just wing it.
As for this pile of food… maybe I should just leave it here?
Given my current strength, I'm not worried about not being able to find more food, so leaving it behind should be fine.
But I can't help but feel that would be such a waste.
Hmm…
After thinking it over, I decided to bring all the food with me. I'm someone who loves animals, so I can't let their meat go to waste.
To carry it, I just piled everything together and used silk threads to drag it along.
It might look big and bulky, but to me, it's light as a feather, so it doesn't slow me down at all.
Because I was dragging around a huge pile of food, I attracted a lot of attention on the way.
A few creatures recklessly tried to ambush me, and in the end, they just helped add even more food to my stash.
How generous of them.
After that, I wandered all over the sixth floor trying to find the path to the seventh.
But seriously, how big is this place? I've been walking forever and still haven't found the exit.
Wait… I've been down this path before.
Why does this place look so familiar…??
Did the area change or something? Why am I back here again…??
Ah…!
I give up.
I've been wandering for so long that I've already eaten most of my previous food stash, and I'm still nowhere near the exit.
So I decided to catch a creature and force it to show me the way—but that didn't work either, since I couldn't communicate with them and they'd never been to the seventh floor anyway.
With no other choice, I had to find Seina.
Hey Seina, are you done yet? Make a map for me.
"Oh? I thought you were busy studying magic?"
Well, I made decent progress already, so I left the rest to Suzu. Right now, I need to get to the next floor.
"Do it yourself. I'll guide you, but I'm really busy."
What are you so busy with, anyway?
"Still working on providing energy for the Virtual World."
Any progress yet?
"Not really. Right now, energy self-sufficiency only comes from the spirits, but their output isn't enough to cover the consumption—especially with someone constantly draining too much of it."
There it is again.
Every time Seina changes her tone like that, it's always about Suzu.
But I still don't know what's going on between them.
Seina, take your time and think things through. If you need help finding more energy, just say the word—I'll do it.
"It's fine for now, but eventually, relying on just you won't be enough."
Huh?? What's the difference between now and later?
"I plan to incorporate our previous product into the Virtual World, and use its capabilities to expand things without relying on our own knowledge like before."
Oh, I had that idea once too but totally forgot about it because I didn't have the time.
I didn't expect Seina to still be holding onto it.
Alright, if there's anything I can help with, just let me know.
"Just don't get in the way and I'll be grateful."
I walked up and patted Seina's head.
"What are you doing?"
I don't know. I just thought it might cheer you up.
"You don't know anything…" Seina turned her face away.
So, feeling better now?
"I'll call you when the map is done."
Thanks. I knew you wouldn't refuse.
"Hmph!"
I smiled and left to wait outside.
For some reason, I feel like Seina is jealous of Suzu over something. But I don't dare ask—she'd definitely get mad.
…
Before long, Seina called me back and handed over the completed map.
Having a map really does speed things up. It only took me an hour to reach the entrance to the seventh floor, and without hesitation, I entered.
This place doesn't look much different from the sixth floor—just a lot of dirt, rocks, and some minerals I don't recognize.
Now that I'm on the seventh floor… where should I go?
After thinking it over, I decided to ask Seina for another map.
"You're so high-maintenance."
Come on, help me out, Seina.
I pressed up against her, putting on my best pitiful face, and in the end, Seina agreed.
This trick really never goes out of style.
With her directions, I quickly reached an area filled with creatures and kicked off another battle. This was another species I'd never encountered before—and there were a lot of them.
There were seven mutated individuals and a few hundred normal ones, but at my current level, they posed no threat at all, so I just went all out.
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Finally done—but I only leveled up twice?
Is it harder to level up now or something?
Oh well, better than nothing.
Let's check my stats now.
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HP: 335/335
MP: 270/270 (+300)
SP: 365/365
Attack: 8248 (+387)
Defense: 8556 (+380)
Magic: 6754 (+379)
Speed: 8376 (+427)
Oh, stats did increase—less than before, but still amazing to me.
After the battle, it's time to eat. So I took a day to feast on all the meat I had left.
The next day, I hit the road again.
...
Fight! Keep fighting! More fighting!
Right now, I'm wreaking havoc everywhere. Besides the marked spots, I ran into lots of other creatures on the way. Even if they didn't come after me, I still charged at them.
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Fighting really is the best!
After a full day of destruction, I decided to reward myself with a good nap.
It's been a while since I've slept. Even though I don't really need much sleep anymore, the feeling of sleeping is just too good to pass up.
I took a long nap—who knows how long I was out.
When I woke up, there were a few corpses nearby.
Naiwa!
Where did these come from?
"They attacked you while you were sleeping," Seina said.
No way!
Why didn't you wake me up?!
"Didn't seem necessary."
Are you trying to get me killed?!
"They didn't even scratch you. They tried attacking, but just died on their own."
No way…
I checked myself—no injuries at all.
Oh, right!
I had [Adamantine Body] activated while I slept just in case.
Didn't expect it to actually work that well.
"By the way, while you were sleeping, the skill [Adamantine Body] leveled up too."
Oh, that's great!
I didn't expect to wake up to good news like this.
After waking, I grilled some meat—though in reality, it tasted awful. The meat from those things tasted like rotting flesh, but because of my "no food waste" rule, I forced myself to eat every last bite.
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Oh, there it is.
How could I not be happy when my skills level up like this?
Over the next few days, I kept sweeping across the seventh floor, and by now, nothing could stop me anymore.
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The monsters on this floor were numerous—if you count them all, probably close to a thousand. But today, they could do nothing but scatter in panic the moment I appeared.
The sense of overwhelming power... it felt amazing.
Besides grinding levels and boosting stats, I was also aiming for the title [Peerless] that Exc had once mentioned. So, you could say I didn't let a single creature survive after entering my field of vision.
Now that I think about it—where's Exc? Did he run off or something?
"Exc left while you were learning magic. He said he remembered a few things that would be very suitable for you, so he went off to find them."
Huh, since when did he get so generous? Doesn't feel like him at all.
"Of course, it's not for free. He said you'd have to help him with something afterward."
Knew it!
Well, whatever. I've always accepted things first and paid the price later—it's nothing new.
I exchanged a few updates with Seina that I missed while learning magic, then resumed clearing out the seventh floor. And after just four days, I had completely swept the entire area.
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Only one level after killing that many?
Leveling up is definitely getting harder and harder.
Let's check my current stats.
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HP: 350/350
MP: 285/285 (+300)
SP: 390/390
Attack: 10251 (+387)
Defense: 10559 (+380)
Magic: 8757 (+379)
Speed: 10379 (+427)
Nai wa!
Finally hit five-digit stats!
But why is the Magic stat lagging so much?
Oh, right. Most creatures on this floor were focused on physical attacks, so I didn't get to absorb many Magic-related stats from them.
After finishing up the seventh floor, I didn't rush into the eighth right away. Instead, I spent a few days studying magic with Suzu, then discussed the Virtual World plans with Seina.
I realized I couldn't just keep fighting—I had to pay attention to other matters too. To keep both of them happy, I alternated between the two over the course of nearly ten days.
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Nice.
Progress on both fronts—combat and magic.
Once I was done inside, I went outside and moved into the eighth floor. I immediately rushed to the marked locations on the map and began my onslaught.
This time, Seina seemed to be in a good mood, so I didn't have to wait for him to make the map—he had it ready the moment I entered.
Turns out they're not as hard to deal with as I'd thought.
What followed was nonstop combat—battle after battle, to the point where I felt like I died and came back several times. Many areas suffered destruction, and almost no living creatures remained.
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I just kept killing, then used food to restore stamina and continued fighting again. The loop repeated endlessly, making me virtually unstoppable on this floor.
Let's go!
The slaughter hadn't ended—it only got more intense after I encountered a large pack of wolves.
This was my first time seeing wolves in this world, but they weren't much different from regular dogs—just more aggressive. This time, instead of killing them the usual way, I used [Soul Chain] to also feed the Virtual World some extra energy.
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Once the wolf pack was taken care of, my skill leveled up, and I moved on to my next target.
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Yes!
That's the way!
If it moves, I'll crush it.
It's been nearly a month since I entered the seventh floor, and now I'm about to enter the ninth.
This must be the fastest anyone has ever progressed, right?
I can't lie—it does feel like an achievement.
Before heading into the ninth floor, as usual, I took some time to help Suzu and Seina handle the tasks that piled up while I was off fighting.
It cost me quite a bit of time, but the results were definitely worth it.
Although I've been studying magic for quite a while now, Suzu advised me to wait until I truly mastered it before using it in battle. According to her, the first time using magic carries a special meaning for everyone.
That sounded fair enough to me. With the skill set I already had, I could easily dominate without even touching magic yet, so there was no need to rush.
Oh—and of course, time for the usual stat check.
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HP: 360/360
MP: 325/325 (+300)
SP: 400/400
Attack: 12253 (+387)
Defense: 12561 (+380)
Magic: 10759 (+379)
Speed: 14609 (+427)
Wow... it's only been about two months since I evolved, and I'm already on the verge of another evolution?
That said, leveling up is much harder now. Even if I clear out the entire ninth floor, I doubt I'll have enough experience to evolve again. The monsters here are just too weak compared to me, and the EXP they drop is pitiful.
Come on, I wiped out thousands of monsters on floors seven and eight and didn't even gain ten levels. That's ridiculous.
Anyway, since I've got the map, I might as well keep moving.
But... there's something odd about this map.
One of the markings looks different—what is this, Seina?
"I'm not sure either, but when I was mapping the area, that spot was emitting some rather unique signals, so I marked it differently. You'll know once you get there."
Since Seina said that, I had no choice but to follow.
That spot happened to be the farthest point from my current location, so I decided to take it slow. The terrain here changes every few days anyway, so I just needed to keep moving until that place drifted closer to me.
What followed was more of the usual: slashing and slaughtering everything in sight.
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These were the skills I had from the beginning, and they still hadn't evolved. So, I decided to focus on leveling them up for now.
Unlike floors seven and eight, the ninth floor had a sudden spike in monster population. Even the smallest packs had over a hundred, and the largest went into the thousands.
But all of them?
Their fate was the same—to end up in my stomach, converted into nutrients and EXP.
Still, I was curious—why were there so many creatures here? So I decided to investigate.
I was near a den of a species called Baboon Hawk. There were over 900 of them. I wanted to figure out how they could reproduce so quickly.
Ahem… not because I wanted to watch those scenes or anything!
It's just—this might be a useful secret for me in the future, so I had to check it out.
But after hiding here for days, I hadn't noticed anything unusual.
Could it just be natural reproduction? Was I just overthinking it?
Yep.
I definitely overthought it.
I've been lurking here for four days and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
I confirmed that this species reproduces and grows very fast, so the huge population isn't that strange after all.
Wasted enough of my time—might as well repent inside my belly.
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After a satisfying meal, I passed out for a good rest.
When I woke up, Seina called me in to grab the updated map.
Oh!
That special mark is much closer now!
Well then, what am I waiting for? Time to go check it out.
I've already wiped out almost the entire ninth floor, so there's not much else left to do anyway.