The rest of the floor went by in much the same way. Any time they heard a bat, Nova would erect a barrier for Anny to stand behind while he took care of the enemies.

Once his essence was reduced to a quarter of his total, he started using his unification skill instead. His body grew to his full size in a moment, stretching the limits of his clothing. He unsheathed his sword as well, preferring to use it over getting his fists dirty.

Anny didn't like holding his hand while being the only child. After complaining about it for a while, she transformed her arm into a long, tentacle-like limb that she insisted on keeping around his neck.

The dungeon seemed endless. Corridors twisted and turned, opening into chambers filled with the chittering sounds of bat creatures. Each battle ended quickly, with Nova dispatching the enemies in efficient bursts of violence. The floor was littered with bat corpses they couldn't see but occasionally stumbled over.

Finally, they reached the large door of the Floor Guardian. Nova could sense the massive portal through his wind magic, feeling its contours and dimensions. Ancient stone, worn smooth by time, carved with symbols he couldn't make out in the darkness.

"We're at the door now. Do you just wanna stay here?" Nova asked, turning back to Anny.

"Of course not! This is where you have to prove your worth as a protector." Anny's voice carried a challenging edge.

"...Yeah, fine. It's probably another bat, so just stay low." Nova sighed, knowing there was no point arguing with her. It was decent practice in any case.

His life detection didn't work through the walls of the dungeon for some reason. The magic simply bounced back at him, meaning he had no way of knowing what they would encounter.

'Another way to make it more challenging? Or fun? It would ruin a bit of the experience if I knew where all the enemies were, if I'm being honest.'

The door opened at his touch. It was another circular chamber, at least from what Nova could sense. The wind mapping revealed a high ceiling and smooth walls curving around them. He erected a barrier around Anny as soon as she was inside. The formation took shape instantly, invisible but solid.

He turned his attention to the glowing spot on his mental map, right ahead of him. His life detection picked up something large hovering in the center of the room.

'Big bat, it seems. Soul Power, about sixteen thousand. Three-four piercing missiles should do the trick, but I'd rather just slice it and save my essence.'

A loud scream attacked his eardrums without warning. The sound hit like a physical force, catching him off guard. It hurt, ringing through his skull with painful intensity, but it wasn't strong enough to do any damage—only temporarily deafen him. The world went silent except for a high-pitched ringing in his ears.

'That would have been trouble for anyone using their hearing to fight... This dungeon is dangerous, even for experienced adventurers.'

Not giving his lack of hearing any thought, Nova burst forward with his sword in hand. The blade cut through the darkness, trailing faint essence as he moved. His boots pounded against the stone floor, sending vibrations he could feel but not hear.

He jumped toward the beast, pushing off from the ground with explosive force. The creature finally came within the radius of his spell. The wind formed a perfect map of his opponent in his mind.

It was an ugly beast, twice the size of a normal human. The wind from its leathery wings could be felt throughout the room, creating currents of air that Nova tracked through his spell.

Without wasting time, Nova jumped into the air, not giving it much time to react. It seemed surprised that he was able to find it in the dark, but still, it managed to lift itself higher in the air before Nova reached it.

But Nova was ready for that. The only good direction to flee for creatures in the air was up, so he had prepared a wind blast in his free hand.

He shot the wind down below him, giving his body a boost upward, high enough to reach the giant bat. As he rocketed upward, he adjusted his grip on his sword, positioning it for a perfect strike.

The sword pierced through its wing, cutting it clean off the creature's body. He immediately made another slash after that, carving deep into the creature's neck. Blood sprayed outward in a fan pattern, invisible in the darkness but definitely messing up his clothes.

They both fell to the ground, with vastly different levels of control. Nova touched down with practiced ease, while the bat crashed beside him with a heavy thud that vibrated through the stone floor. The creature was dying rapidly, convulsing on the floor, flapping its one wing through the air.

Nova threw his sword at its head, wanting to end its suffering. The blade spun once before burying itself to the hilt in the creature's skull.

[Congratulations! You've completed Floor 6!]

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

[The reward will be evenly split between both party members upon exiting the dungeon.]

[Do you wish to continue to the next floor?]

"Oh, we can see the screen," Nova remarked, surprised that the message was visible despite the floor's effect. The blue letters cast no light on their surroundings, yet remained perfectly legible.

"Good job, protector," Anny said, still shielded behind the barrier. Though he couldn't see her, he could picture her expression—probably a mix of relief and that smug look she got whenever she teased him. And likely more smug than relieved.

"Why, thank you. How many seconds did I spend?" Nova asked as he walked back toward her voice, extending his senses to navigate the darkness. His feet stepped carefully over the scattered debris from their battle.

"At least five. But you were faster than last time."

"Ah, well, I thought I was protected back then. I lost so much time having to dodge that giant mallet," Nova teased while rolling his shoulder, feeling the muscles protest slightly from the exertion of the fight.

"Oh yeah? Well, Millie's eardrums would have shattered if she were standing here." Anny teased right back, not leaving the criticism unanswered.

Nova winced at the realization. She had a point—the barrier he'd created was designed to block physical attacks, not sound waves. Such an oversight could have been devastating had Millie actually been with them.

"Let's just both promise to do better in the future." He dispelled the barrier with a gesture, stopping right in front of her.

"That's better." Anny's tone softened slightly, moving closer to him. Her elongated arm stretched out to the side, ready to latch on to his neck again. It was strangely intimidating in the dark.

"...Yeah. Let's get out of here. I'm tired." Fighting in the dark was more mentally exhausting than he'd expected.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the light returned to the dungeon floor. The transition was jarring—sudden illumination flooding the chamber without warning. Even the dim blue crystal light seemed painfully bright after so long in absolute darkness. Both of them squinted as their eyes adjusted.

The wall opened once again on the other side of the circular chamber, but this time it was a stairway that led up instead of down. And it lit up with sunlight.

The duo only needed a dozen or so steps to reach the top of the stairs, finding a final corridor with a blue membrane at the end, separating them from the outside.

As they approached midway through the corridor, a blue formation on the floor activated.

'Time to see what we've earned so far…'

[Congratulations! Your party has cleared floors 1 through 6.]

[Your loot total comes out to:

49 x Pure KiloSouls

103 x Tier 6 Common loot

42 x Tier 6 Uncommon loot

13 x Tier 6 Rare loot

3 x Tier 6 Epic loot

1 x Tier 6 Legendary loot

125 x Tier 5 Common loot

…]

"Holy hells… That's way more loot than I expected." Nova's eyes widened as he scanned the extensive list. The value represented in those glowing blue letters was staggering.

"Yeah… Are those KiloSouls equal to a thousand Soul Power each?" Anny leaned forward, transforming her arm back to normal.

"I would guess so." Nova nodded, mentally calculating their haul.

The message flickered once before updating:

[Loot has been split evenly between party members.]

A strange sensation washed through Nova's body as the loot materialized. Hundreds of pieces of assorted materials, essences, and power sources appeared directly in his core. The feeling was similar to absorbing the soul and materials of a slain beast.

The most notable one that appeared was the tier 6 legendary material, called 'Blood of the Vampire Lord'.

'Another legendary blood type… Will it have another unique effect, like the regeneration of the trolls? I would guess it's something related to blood. Healing would be rather useless, but if it's something like absorbing essence through blood… On second though, maybe Anny wants to try it.'

The thought of sucking out blood from his enemies wasn't very tempting. It seemed more suited to the beast princess next to him.

"Oh, they are equal to a thousand!" Anny exclaimed. Her excitement dimmed slightly as she continued, "...But damn, that means the dungeon only gives us a few percentages of what we would receive in the wilds."

"Yeah… But it's a fair trade-off, I think." Nova's mind flashed back to their desperate flight from the Mountain King in the outlands. Only luck allowed him to survive. "You might think the same if you ever met the Mountain King."

She didn't seem convinced. "Maybe… Well, at least it will be twice as high after the next floor, and then triple that again for each next one."

Nova did the math quickly. "Meaning we will get a million after beating level 9… But at best, that only puts us at an even ground with the monsters in level 10. Not to mention the Floor Guardian."

"Yeah, I doubt we could survive that… But, if that's what it takes…"

"...Let's make that call later." Nova placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling the tension there. "For now, we should focus on each level as it comes."

"Right. Time to leave this place, then."

They continued toward the exit. Nova turned his attention to the blue membrane at the corridor's end. The translucent barrier rippled gently, like water disturbed by an unseen breeze. He could barely see the outside from where he was standing, but the little he saw made him feel more tired than he already was.

As he drew closer, the details clarified and confirmed his suspicion. Beyond the membrane, a massive crowd had gathered. Hundreds of people surrounded the dungeon exit, their faces turned expectantly toward the shimmer of energy that marked the threshold. Some wore the practical garb of adventurers, others the fine clothes of merchants or nobles. All seemed to be waiting with eager anticipation.

Nova sighed. "Ugh, I forgot about the tracker they gave us. They know we've beaten six levels in under a day."

"And now they're here to... buy our loot? Congratulate us?"

"Probably a bit of both..." Nova ran a hand through his white hair, disheveled from hours of combat. "Let's go out in our usual forms."

"Heh, sure."

Nova concentrated, releasing the unification skill that had maintained his adult form. His body shimmered with white light as he shrank back to his usual size.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward through the blue membrane. The barrier parted around him, cool and tingling against his skin, and then he was through, emerging into the blinding sunlight and the roar of the waiting crowd.

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