part1 · 057-ep57

Episode 57: The Fifth Floor

Down the stairs, Ren set foot on the fifth floor.

"..."

The air was different. Heavier than the fourth floor, with a feeling that clung to his skin.

Ren looked around. The path was wider than before. But there were plenty of monster signs, too.

"From here on, they only get stronger, huh."

He gripped the spear. A thin layer of magic clung to its head.

He still couldn't sustain it for long. Even so, it was a power he'd gained on the fourth floor.

Before long, a monster appeared. Bigger than the ones he'd fought on the fourth floor.

Ren readied himself at once.

"Come on."

The monster leapt. Ren used body strengthening and jumped sideways.

Swinging the spear as they passed, the magic wreathing its head tore through the monster's body.

The monster fell.

"...One blow, huh."

Even opponents who'd given him trouble on the fourth floor left him room to spare now.

But Ren stayed alert. This was the fifth floor. The monster just now might not be all this floor had.

Monsters kept appearing after that, one after another. Ren took them down one at a time.

Body strengthening. Partial strengthening. Magic Manipulation. And the magic wreathed around his spear.

With every fight, each of them came more naturally. Partial strengthening, which at first he could only manage with conscious effort, he could now use mid-battle without thinking.

The time he could keep magic imbued in the spear was stretching little by little, too.

"...I'm getting the hang of it."

Ren looked at the monsters he'd felled. He'd killed quite a few since entering the fifth floor.

And then he found himself wondering about his own condition.

"Appraisal."

A display appeared.

《Name: Kurose Ren》

《Race: Human》

《Level: 9》

《HP: 172/180》

《MP: 168/180》

《Skills》

《《Appraisal Lv.3》》

《《Survival Adaptation》》

《《Infinite Growth》》

《《Body Strengthening Lv.3》》

《《Magic Manipulation Lv.2》》

《《Item Box Lv.1》》

"...Level nine already?"

It had climbed quite a bit without him noticing. Body Strengthening was Lv.3 now. Magic Manipulation had reached Lv.2.

That was how much he'd kept fighting.

"Going smoothly."

Ren closed the display. His HP and MP had dipped a little, but rest would bring them back.

The exploration continued after that. Fighting monsters again and again, cutting them down again and again.

Before he knew it, he'd reached the depths of the fifth floor.

And—

"...Stairs."

Before his eyes stood a staircase leading down. Ren looked past it.

"The sixth floor, huh."

He stopped for just a moment. It hadn't taken much time to get this far.

But the deeper he went, the stronger the monsters became. There was still a long way ahead.

"Let's go."

Without hesitation, Ren descended the stairs.

To the sixth floor.

Onward, to somewhere even deeper.