A/n: I updated the images of Hera, Hades, Persephone, Hestia, Ra, Luna, and Fleur. Check them out.
After the first checkpoint, Hades' Warriors moved to the deeper floors.
The environment was a cavern with large trees that seemed to touch the sky and thick foliage. Bioluminescent fungi gave the environment a green glow that would have made some things hard to notice for other individuals.
Daphne became a blur, and the body of an insect-type monster fell on the ground.
Luna made a disgusted expression and climbed on Aaric's back. "You have to carry me from here, until these insects go away," Luna said, hugging Aaric's neck.
"Daphne will be doing the fighting this floor anyway," Aaric said with a shrug and smile as he felt Luna kiss his cheek.
They heard a buzzing sound as they moved a little deeper into the floor. A swarm of wasps could be seen approaching them from a distance.
Daphne grinned and glanced at Aaric, getting a thumbs-up from him.
Daphne crouched and concentrated on the wasps. She moved the spear tip to her side, and with a powerful leap, she launched herself at the wasps. She did not use her technique to cover the spear tip with light; she was concentrating on honing her movements this round.
The Magisteel Spear became a blur. She spun the spear in tight, overlapping arcs, creating a whirlwind that deflected the wasps' bodies and snapped their stingers. It was pure, instinctual defense, a dazzling dance of offense and evasion.
She had to move her body in sync with the weapon, twisting, pivoting, and stepping with impossible grace as she used her Sage Skill that the wasps were trying to interfere with by creating a sonic pressure from their wings that would have disrupted the magical energy in her body and in the environment.
{You have gained the Extra Skill: Nile Water Spear Dance}
Daphne smirked as she heard the Voice of the World in her mind, and spear techniques and body movements flooded her mind. Her form and demeanor changed as she swiped and thrust her spear in precise arcs that killed a greater amount of wasps with every swipe and thrust as her body moved at an impossible angle and flowed like water.
It did not take much time for her to kill all the wasps, and she waved her hand lightly to store all the monster cores in the pouch.
"I love the grin on your face. It was equal parts bloodthirsty and pretty," Aaric said with a grin of his own.
Daphne blushed as she heard Aaric and swatted his chest lightly. She then moved near Aaric and gave him a kiss. "I think a spear is a good weapon for me," she said, breaking the kiss but still just an inch away from Aaric's face, and kissed him again.
They broke their kiss after some time. "Am I going to get this treatment every time you improve?" Aaric asked with a grin. He would have held her by the waist and kissed her deeper if he were not holding Luna right now.
"No, you just have to move closer," Daphne said with a giggle, and started moving again.
The Labyrinth floors had some traps, but the party just used an advanced version of the Aberto spell periodically to avoid them.
"You could have just asked," Aaric whispered to Luna as they moved.
"Asked what?" Luna asked innocently, burying her face in Aaric's neck.
"I know you are not scared of insects, Angel," Aaric whispered with a grin.
"You should just pick me up all the time so I don't have to ask," Luna whispered in Aaric's ear, and started kissing his cheek and neck.
Aaric chuckled and shook his head as they moved lower through the Labyrinth levels.
"Can these skills and the Voice of the World even help us? I did improve my spear technique faster, but I could have just destroyed the monsters with a wave of my hand," Daphne asked. As if to prove that, she waved her hand, and a swarm of giant bees were killed and their cores collected.
"As you said, it will help you improve your spear skills. This world has a class of higher skills that are called Unique, Ultimate, and Origin Skills," Aaric started explaining, and even Luna leaned in to listen.
"In the end, we can use someone's help to assort all our magics and divine powers into skills. I am sure we all can get at least one Origin-level Skill. And if we all get Sage-type Skills and evolve them, we will be able to harness all our powers at near-perfect efficiency and control," Aaric added.
"How powerful are these Origin Skills?" Daphne asked after digesting the information.
"Simply god-like. And we have actual divine energy as well, so I think our skills will basically make us gods in the waking world," Aaric replied with a shrug.
"Then we can use divine seeds to be able to contend with the gods in the dreamlands as well," Aaric added.
"Why do we even need such power?" Daphne asked as she stopped and faced Aaric.
"I told you, we will live long lives, longer than even some gods. No matter what we do, if we stay mortal, we will not be able to handle immortality. Gods are fundamentally different; they can sense their followers, grant them miracles, or just look at a rock for an eternity as they think of how the cosmos works. They can love forever as if on the first day," Aaric explained and leaned in to kiss her forehead gently.
Daphne thought about it for a bit as Aaric waited patiently.
She then leaned in and cupped Aaric's face. "As long as I can love you forever," she whispered to him before giving him a peck on the lips.
"For eternity," Luna echoed as well and got down from Aaric's back to give him a kiss as well.
"How about we go explore this world outside the Labyrinth for a little bit? We can come back to this floor whenever we want," Daphne asked, and Aaric and Luna nodded.
They appeared in a secluded area on the first floor and exited the Labyrinth through the door so the managers of the Labyrinth don't presume them lost in the Labyrinth, as death is not really an option in the Labyrinth.
The receptionist greeted them with a bow. "May I see your party panel, please?" she asked.
Aaric shrugged and handed her the steel panel.
"Eleven floors in such a short time! Impressive. Would you be comfortable with us broadcasting your progression of the Labyrinth? You will get a cut of the earnings and a celebrity party status if people like your progress, which I am sure they will," the girl asked with enthusiasm in her eyes.
Aaric glanced at Luna and Daphne, who shook their heads.
"Thank you for the offer. But we must decline," Aaric said, and the girl handed him the panel back and bowed.
"I understand. I hope I did not inconvenience you," she said, and the party just chuckled and thanked her before leaving.
A/n: Gimme reviews and your thoughts on the chapters please.
Oh! And.. you got any power stone? Leave them here before you go, Now.