Reunion with Goliath

As Falan gradually got the hang of "Mage," the Dungeon soon faced a calamity.

Starting from the floor Falan was on, monsters were constantly bombarded by magic.

This left Falan exhausted yet delighted. After all, every single monster meant money!

Back when he was Lv. 1, he had been able to clear all the way to the 17th Floor without injury under the protection of the Freya Familia.

Now that he had advanced to Lv. 2 and possessed a development ability like "Mage"—

Fighting these middle-floor monsters was like fighting upper-floor monsters: one spell could wipe out a whole group.

Moreover, since monsters spawned faster on the middle floors than on the upper floors, he was getting even more Magic Crystals than during the early part of the expedition.

"We've reached the 17th Floor again..."

This was a special floor. During the last expedition, he had made it here on his own strength.

But back then, the Freya Familia had been backing him up. Now, he had returned here once again.

It proved that he had grown much stronger than he had been one or two months ago.

"Then... it's about time to head back?"

After all, Orario had long since figured out the respawn cycle of Goliath, the 17th Floor's boss.

On average, it revived once every thirty days—one month. When Falan had learned this information at the Adventurer Guild, he had found it rather hard to believe. The floor boss was practically no different from a regularly reset dungeon boss in a game.

Goliath had been killed once when they came here during the expedition. On the way back, he had heard that the adventurers on the 18th Floor had formed a party and killed Goliath once more. That was why they had not encountered it on their return. If its respawn cycle had not changed, then Goliath should have revived by now.

"What should I choose? If I go forward, I might run into Goliath at the end."

This was the option Falan leaned toward. After all, he had already spent an entire day exploring the Dungeon.

Though he had been testing "Mage" and continuously bombarding monsters, he did not feel too bad. If anything, he was still somewhat excited.

But the fatigue in his body seemed to be telling him that he needed a rest.

During the expedition, Falan had not needed to worry about such things, since the adventurers of the Freya Familia were all strong enough.

But now that he was alone, Falan had no choice but to consider heading to the 18th Floor to rest.

Following the map, he reached the junction between the two floors and saw a gigantic giant.

As if it had sensed his arrival, it suddenly pushed itself up. Looking at that colossal figure and hearing the ground tremble beneath it—

Even though this was not the first time Falan had seen such a sight, he could not help but feel shaken.

Because this was the floor boss, a powerful monster beyond reach.

"Can I take it down?" Falan muttered to himself, his conversation with Captain Mia seeming as vivid as though it had happened yesterday.

There was no doubt that Goliath was powerful. Its strength varied between individuals and was estimated to range from Lv. 3 to Lv. 5.

Yet even the weakest Lv. 3 individual could throw a punch comparable to that of a first-class adventurer, Lv. 5 or above.

But great strength came with a price. For example, Goliath, as a floor boss, was simply too enormous.

Every time it gathered strength for a punch, it would leave a considerable opening afterward.

Besides that, it moved slowly. Many adventurer parties that came here simply bypassed it, crossing the floor boss's chamber to reach the 18th Floor. If not for the people on the 18th Floor needing convenient transport routes for supplies, Goliath would not die so many times on a regular basis.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that, in Falan's eyes, Goliath was the easiest floor boss to deal with—and the one with the most miserable fate.

"In theory, could a Lv. 2 kite Goliath to death by keeping their distance?"

Falan muttered as he began chanting. Goliath had already started throwing things at him.

[Dark Spirit, heed my request. Gather into a wall of black and block the object before me.]

[Dark Spirit, Silent Observer, become countless chains and bind the Titan before me.]

A ring of dark light gradually gathered around Falan. No, rather than a membrane of light, it was more accurate to say that this spell drew the surrounding light into itself. The light it constantly absorbed was the energy maintaining the barrier.

The huge rock Goliath threw struck the barrier. Though cracks appeared across it, it absorbed the magic Falan supplied and the light continuously gathering around it, fully restoring itself in just two or three seconds.

As Falan blocked the incoming boulder, a change also occurred around Goliath.

Countless chains burst from the shadow beneath Goliath. Some wrapped around its feet, while others seized its hands directly. Though Goliath struggled constantly, shattering chain after chain and sending them falling to the ground, they melted back into the shadows.

But the chains were forming far too quickly, and their numbers were endless. Though many chains shattered every second, even more bound themselves around Goliath. Before long, the colossal creature was tied to the ground.

With a deafening boom, Falan was startled. Still, there was not much he could say, as his face was already deathly pale.

Because...

"Damn it, I wasn't paying attention, and I've overdrawn my magic again..."

It had to be said that Child of the Dark Elf was an excellent talent skill.

But he had grown accustomed to the feeling of having an endless supply of magic at night, without the slightest expenditure.

That was why Falan had miscalculated now. Goliath was much stronger than he had imagined.

Though his "Binding Chains" had Goliath pinned to the ground right now, the magic it consumed was also considerable.

Falan immediately ran toward the 18th Floor, because he knew very well that he could not hold on much longer.

As he fled to the 18th Floor and relaxed his control over the spell, Goliath instantly broke free of its restraints and charged toward the 18th Floor. Falan could only be grateful that he had reacted quickly enough. Otherwise, he might very well have died there.

"Sure enough, I can't be too arrogant... I almost died..."

Fortunately, both Child of the Dark Elf and Mage had buffs that accelerated the recovery of mental power, or magic.

Otherwise, with his magic already overdrawn from binding Goliath, he would never have made it this far.

[Ding! Congratulations, you have achieved a great feat: soloing a floor boss and defeating it.]

"???" Falan was at a loss for words. Then he looked into his Backpack and found an extra item inside, marked: Floor Boss Goliath's Magic Crystal (Lv. 3.1).

"So Goliath took damage while struggling, then chased after me and kept slamming into the floor opening until it killed itself?"

Falan was speechless. Was there really such a stupid floor boss in this world?

Still, it was dead either way, so he had gotten this inexplicable "great feat" for free.

Since that was the case, he should claim the reward. If he did not take a free reward when the chance came, he would be the one losing out later.

Then he heard...

[Based on the great feat achieved by "Falan," three additional rewards are available for selection.]

[First: Raise all attributes to S.]

[Second: Unseal one Spirit Weapon.]

[Third: Social Circle "Chat Room."]

[Choose one of the three rewards.]

"..." So the Spirit Weapon he had gotten for free was actually still sealed?

Falan thought that if he had known earlier, he would have considered taking Development Ability +1 when advancing to Lv. 2.

Then he would not have needed to deliberate for so long over whether to choose Dark Spirit or Mage.

"Social Circle 'Chat Room'? This is starting to feel more and more like a game... but I won't consider it."

After all, Falan was still too weak. If he suddenly manifested such magic, he felt he would not be far from getting captured and dissected.

(Though Falan did not know whether this world even had things like dissection and research.)

"Raise all attributes to S, or unseal the Spirit Weapon in my Backpack? I have to choose between the two?"

"..." Falan did not know what to choose. The Spirit Weapon sounded like something extremely reliable, especially since it needed to be unsealed. It truly seemed extraordinary.

"But... I'll still choose to increase my strength. The Spirit Weapon may be good, but it's ultimately just an external tool..."

After making his decision, Falan felt a tingling comfort spread through his entire body as he underwent a Metamorphosis.

He could not help but marvel. Was this what it felt like to be "empowered," going from someone who had just advanced to having all attributes raised directly to S?

Though the Spirit Weapon in his Backpack remained sealed, Falan did not feel that he had lost out.