It was amazing the difference having someone who was actually prepared for the dungeon around made.
Where the first floor had been a sea of chaos where at every second they had to be careful of traps and ambushes, with wave after wave of enemies pouring down on them until the floors were slick with their blood, the second floor was… almost a walk in the park.
Not only did Jean know exactly where they were going, he was also well equipped with magic lanterns which would repel the wraiths, bringing an end to their constant ambushes. He also had an E-rank zombie that was specially made to identify and either disarm or tank traps. He had necro-repellent stones that he would periodically break and leave in side passages to prevent ambushes from behind, and when they were forced into a combat situation in order to proceed, his ten massive winged tigers and his own powerful [Netherworld Magic] were more than capable of handling the grunts, leaving Fran and Art to take care of the stronger, more [Magic Resistant] enemies.
"Here we are." Jean said as they arrived at a larger room, full to the brim with what looked like rank-F wraiths. "You can't tell just by looking at them, but some of these wraiths are actually Rank-E Mimicry Spirit, just pretending to be wraiths, and somewhere in this mess is the Rank-D Disguised Spirit that you are looking for."
"Man there has to be thousands of them." Art said as she looked around the camber. "How are we supposed to figure out which one is which?"
"Just kill them all and let Archer sort them out." Fran said as she stepped forward, brandishing Archer.
[As nice as that sounds, mind if I suggest a less time consuming method?] Archer said. [The stronger spirits will have more Mana. If we turn on [Mana Thief] the normal wraiths should all be sucked dry rather quickly.]
"Nn. Good idea." Fran said, turning her head to Jean. "Stand back. Don't want friendly fire."
"Will do." Jean said, moving himself and his summons out of the hundred foot range of the [Mana Thief] skill, as Archer burned 27 evolution points to bring it up to its max level.
It had actually been a while since Archer had equipped the skill. Since it simply drained everything around, with the exception of Fran, it wasn't something they could use in the city. It had even sapped away Art's strength, before she got the 'Little Demon Set'. Plus, they just hadn't been needing it, ever since they got [Automatic MP Recovery] and with Archer's Mana pool growing ever larger.
However, it still had its uses.
The normal wraiths staggered and even started to fall to pieces as Archer and Fran both activated [Mana Thief] and sucked aware their mana. It took a little while, nearly three minutes, but the normal wraiths couldn't take it, and soon, all that was left were the Mimicry Spirits and the Disguise Spirit. After that, it was easy to identify the solo D-rank monster, as it was the one who's strength could outlast the drain.
After killing it, Archer and Fran gathered up the dropped Magic Stones and absorbed them all at once, getting the skill and filling up the Magic Stone Points gage once again, for the second time that day.
Self-Evolving:
(Rank 16 | Memory 167 | Points 104) → (Rank 17 | Magic Stone Value 13615/15300 | Memory 184 | Points 189)
ATK: 922 → 964 MP: 7050 → 7900 Durability: 6850 → 7700 Mana Channel: S-
Honestly, Archer expected more Magic Stone Points. The Kipine they absorbed from before was worth around 300, as was the Legendary Skeleton from before, with its mount being worth another 100, and the Undead Mammoth giving 80 more. All together, those four Magic Stones were worth about 800 Magic Stone Points, then the Mimicry Spirits had been worth 8 a piece and the Disguise spirit had been another 50, getting 300 in total. So they must have absorbed another 2000 from the F-rank zombies and wraiths they had come across so far, which gave 2 points a piece on average.
1000 zombies and waiths, around 2.3 every minute for those 7 hours… It both felt like a lot, and too little at the same time. Had he been leaving some behind? The Undead Slayer title was gained a LONG time ago, for killing 300 undead on a single battlefield.
Fran and Art had also grown a level from the B-rank Legendary Skeleton, with Art growing a second after a few hundred enemies and the Undead Mammoth. Now Fran was level 37, while Art was level 8. After her stat increases from [Predation Absorption] were applied from her level up, Art's lowest stat was her STR, at 298. Sadly, her food hadn't been very MAG or INT rich, so those stats didn't increase as greatly, but her MAG was moving up towards 400. At this rate, she would have low B-rank threat stats in another month or two.
[Predation Absorption] was a simply insane ability, especially when you are eating A and B-rank monsters every day. Though their supply of such food was running low. Archer would have to do something about that in the near future, unless Art wanted to start eating zombies… Archer was not going to feed her zombie meat… Yeah it was a high concentration of Stat points, but what would soup made from the bones of a Legendary Skeleton even taste like?
That isn't to say that Fran's stats were falling behind. After the sudden spike in the amount of Self-evolution points from their previous Rank Up, Rani suggested putting points into raising Fran's stats, first by raising AGL ↑ (Low), which she got from the zombie corpse of one of the slavers, into AGL ↑ (High) at the cost of 25 Self-evolution Points, increasing the boost it gave from +10 AGL to +100 AGL, nearly a 50% increase to the girl's previous speed. Seeing the effectiveness, Archer gave the OK to use 60 Self-evolution Points to buy STR ↑ (High) and END ↑ (High). Now Fran had over 300 in each of these stats, comparable to some of Amanda's base stats.
Regardless, after getting the [Disguise Appraisal] Skill, Archer modified Fran's stats page to be closer to that of a normal C-rank Adventurer, decreasing her stats by more than half and erasing all of her skills and titles.
[Alright Jean, what does her stats page look like to you?] Archer asked.
"Hm… Her stats are all more average now, but don't you think it is rather suspicious for her to have no skills at all?" The Necromancer asked.
[Fran is always going to be suspicious. I'd prefer to just hide as much as we can.] Archer reasoned.
It was true. Fran couldn't walk down the street without at least someone raising an eyebrow. Trying to make her inconspicuous would be like trying to hide an elephant in a small room. Not technically impossible, but way more trouble than it's worth and it will all be wasted effort as soon as it sneezes. Best to just throw a large curtain over it and then pretend it isn't there. They will still realize there is an elephant in the room, but at least they won't know that it is rainbow colored.
Archer gave his own blade a more realistic fake stat page, simply copying the stats of what these people would call a 'high-quality' Magic Sword, and removing all signs of unique skills.
"It looks like we are done here. Let's start heading for the second floor boss, yes?"
"Nn. Lead the way."
The second floor boss was another pain in the ass.
The boss was a giant zombie ogre that took up a good portion of the room, decked out in mithril armor and wielding a massive spiked club. Though it wasn't the boss itself that was the problem.
Twelve skeleton mages were casting [Support Magic] on the creature, buffing its high C-rank defenses into the high B range. That along with the beast's thick hide and high speed regeneration made the thing difficult to simply cut down.
"Fufufu, you think your pathetic swings could hit me? Know your place, you insignificant worm." Art taunted the undead creature as she flew in its face, kicking it in the eye with enough force to spin its head clear round.
The ogre staggered a bit, but ultimately simply grabbed its own head between twisting it back into its original position and giving a roar of anger. Art just continued to laugh at it as it swung its club straight at her, the club moving through the girl's image, the illusion taking no damage at all.
One illusion became two, and then four. Soon, the beast was surrounded by small demon girls, each laughing as he tried and failed to hit them.
While Art kept the monster distracted, Fran and Jean focused on the skeleton mages, cutting all twelve of them down in little more than a two minutes.
"Buffs down! Go for it!" Fran shouted.
"Heeheehee, you're going to love this." Art said as she started to pump Midnight's Tear with her Demonic Energy, letting it resonate with the materials of the other demon, causing a whirlwind of dark energy to appear around the blade. "[Chaotic Harmony]!"
The slash blasted the orge's skull clean off its shoulders, leaving the confused zombie to stagger around, completely blind before Fran jumped up onto its shoulders and stabbed Archer's blade, charged with holy energy, downwards, into the monster's chest cavity where its Magic Stone was housed.
With the Magic Stone absorbed, the body died and then tumbled to the ground.
Art and Fran stood on top of the monster's corpse for a moment, as if posing for the camera, until Art sank to her knees. "...Gah… Over did it again."
[You really need to stop showing off.] Archer said with a tired sigh. It was a lesson he had tried to teach the girl several times, but one that she didn't seem to get.
"What's the point in winning a fight if you don't get to enjoy it?" Art mumbled.
[The point is you get to live.]
"Jean?" Fran asked, looking to the Devilkin as he walked over to one of his zombie winged tigers.
The undead creature had been hit by the zombie ogre, its entire lower body crushed, along with one of its wings. The thing was still attempting to crawl, dragging itself across the floor with its front paws and leaving a long trail of fluids behind it.
It only stopped when Jean stood before it and placed a hand on its head. "It's alright, Hunter. You don't have to push yourself any longer." Jean said gently. "You have done more than I could have ever asked and have served me well. I will forever be grateful. Now, I will release you, and send you on to heaven myself. Rest long and while. I hope that we can meet again, in the next life." As the necromancer spoke, his hand began to glow and the undead glowed with it. "[Ascension]."
The tiger let out a sort of purr as its body dissolved and its soul was freed to move on into the next life.
Since Jean would need time to prep his spell, to summon the Undead that would act as their scout for the rest of the dungeon, it was decided that they would set up camp in the boss room, using stones from Archer's [Dimensional Storage] to barracked the doorways and wards were placed against intruders and wraiths.
Archer and the remaining undead winged tigers would stand guard, while Jean Dovy worked and the girls rested, to regain their mental fortitude. Pulling out their king-sized bed and changing into their pajamas, the pair were asleep in moments.
"To be able to sleep so soundly even in a dungeon. They will make excellent Adventurers." Jean commented as he dug through one of his many packs.
[Exhaustion is the enemy. A true warrior doesn't waste an opportunity to rest. It is one of the many lessons I've made sure to teach them.]
"You trained them well. In a straight fight, the two of them would completely destroy me. I'm not entirely sure if I could even beat them by fighting dirty. To be able to push through an entire dungeon floor by themselves, without the proper equipment… their stamina is unreal. It would normally take three teams of adventurers a week to do what they did." Jean said.
The man wasn't kidding. Most Adventurers wouldn't be able to make any headway against the numbers that they had been facing, but the girls were able to push through. Still, it only took a half hour to do the second floor, with Jean's help, even including their stop by the Mimicry Spirits. Far faster than they completed the first floor.
"Hey, if they die before I do, would you consider letting me…"
[Finish that sentence and you die now.] Archer warned the Devilkin, flashing a bit of killing intent. The Devilkin laughed, rubbing the back of his head before getting back to work. [I don't get you.]
"Hm? What's there not to get?"
[You claim that you want to destroy this Dungeon because you can't stand for how it creates undead, yet you yourself are gathering the corpses from this place to create more undead yourself. Doesn't that seem a bit odd to you?]
"Fufufu, I see. I don't blame you for not understanding the difference. There are entire countries where we Devilkin are hunted mercilessly for our craft by those too ignorant to know of our noble cause." Jean said with a evilish chuckle. "The difference is that we Necromancers care about the souls of our dead."
[About their souls?]
"Yes. You see, while the body may have a greater impact on the undead's stats and skills, it is its corrupted soul that causes it to be an undead. A soul that has miasma clinging to it will never find peace, moving from corpse to corpse, suffering for all of eternity if it is not purified. It is the necromancer's job to hunt down these souls and purify them." Jean explained. "However, this job is hard and dangerous, and as such assistants are needed. That is where our undead come into play. We form contracts with the undead souls, and in doing so, we remove the miasma that corrupts them, along them to someday pass on. Yes, they serve us as long as their bodies are able, but when that service is over they are allowed to find peace. A few days or years of labor as a disposable undead compared to an eternity of suffering, not a bad deal, right?"
[...Yeah. Not a bad deal.] Archer said, thinking back to his prospects under his contract with Moon-Cell. He could have easily been facing what the undead souls were facing, an eternity of suffering. Regardless what the Gods had planned for him, it wasn't likely to be worse. [You're still a hypocrite though.]
Jean's only response to that was a long, drawn out laugh. Though his laughing dead when there was a sudden spike in Magical Energy nearby and the stone barrier at the door to the third floor stairway was hit with a thunderous *BOOM* that blasted a hole in the rocks.
Jean was on his feet and both Fran and Art were up as well, even before the head of the undead creatures pushed through the hole.
Archer was surprised at its appearance, as it had the body of a child, no older than Fran, with thin arms and legs, and snow white hair. However, it had black holes were its eyes should have been, making its joyous smile more than a little terrifying.
Stephon
Race: Ghost Eater (Undead)
Status: Bounded
Lv. 44/65
HP: 2663 MP: 1838 STR: 947 VIT: 913
AGI: 836 INT: 429 MGC: 1221 DEX: 753
Titles: Dungeon Monster, Familiar
Equipment: Rages
"I found you!" It said, his voice filled with cheer.
In a flash, it was through the gap in the stones and rocketing towards Jean Dovy.
Archer flew in to intercept the attack, but without Fran's physical strength backing up his blade, he lacked the cutting power and the Ghost Eater simply slapped Archer aside.
Fran and Art were moving, pulling out their equipment, but it was too laugh. The Ghost Eater lunged at the shocked Necromancer with its arms outstretched and… "Master!" They all stood shocked as the little undead rubbed its face against Jean's stomach. "After all these years, I'm finally reunited with my Master."
"Stephon, is that you?" Jean said after breaking out of his shock.
"That's right, it's me!" The Ghost Eater said, smiling up at the necromancer with big, black eyeholes.
"...Huh?" Art said, summarizing everyone one's thoughts on the matter.
"This is going to take some explaining."