Waking up and seeing an unfamiliar ceiling was not a pleasant experience. My immediate desire was to get up and start blasting with Firebolt but a splitting pain in my head prevented such an action. The pain was so intense that I couldn't even stand without being hit with a wave of nausea. Crying out I had apparently alerted someone outside of the unfamiliar room.

"Well well well, look who finally woke up." A gruff looking man with an afro said as he walked into the room. "I was worried you were dead when I found ya. Looks like ya still got some fight in ya huh rookie?"

"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked the stranger. I didn't want to attack him. If he wanted me dead he would have done it while I was out. That and I needed to find out why I woke up in some stranger's house.

"I'm Tenji, level two and part of the Saturn familia. And you, friend, are in my home."

"Okay but whe-"

"We're in Rivira... what don't you remember coming down here? You must have busted your ass getting here on your own as a rookie." Tenji said answering my question before I could ask it.

Rivira... I think I remember Eina telling me about this place. It was right after that boss monster, the Rex. Why the hell am I on floor 18 and why does my head hurt?

"I don't remember coming down here. I was just killing some kobolds on the higher floors because I was upset about something. Where did you find me? Was there anything else?" I asked. It was possible I came down here for some reason, got a concussion and forgot why, but for some reason I don't think that's the case.

"Haha that's one sick joke." He started to chuckle darkly, "Someone must have dragged you here then. It would explain the bandages on your head when we found you. You got any enemies kid?"

I had to think about it. There was Soma of course, but as shitty as Zanis is I don't think he would try to have me killed when he thought he could still get money out of me. There were those terrorists from monsterphillia. It would make sense for them to target me over the Loki familia because I was weaker, but I haven't found any real clues on them and it wouldn't make sense for them to bring me here instead of... well just killing me. I couldn't rule it out though.

"Well I assume my enemies would just want to kill me instead." I told him truthfully. I didn't know anyone that would have a reason to bring me here.

"Well you're as good as dead until week's end anyhow." Tenji said with a boisterous laugh, "I'll let ya stay at my place till then, but ya gotta help around with some chores to make up for my generosity."

"And why would I be staying here Tenji?" I asked showing a tinge of annoyance in my voice.

"Well unless ya gotta death wish, yer gonna have to wait fer the Loki familia to wipe out the Goliath on the next floor." He explained much to my relief. It's only a boss monster standing in the way and I can just kill that with Counterspell. Thank Hestia this guy wasn't planning to hold me hostage or something.

"And if I wanted to take my chances with the rex?" I asked. Tenji didn't respond verbally. He just laughed... a lot. He laughed and laughed for two minutes straight before he was finally able to pick himself up.

"Ah that's a good one rookie. Now I have some rags under the sink. If you'd be so kind as to clean the dishes, I'll get some diner ready." He said, still chuckling at my previous statement.

"I'm serious." I told him.

"Yer funeral. Or rather lack thereof since none of us are gonna recover your corpse." He said with a frown.

"That's fine. You know the way out of here?" I asked much to Tanji's annoyance.

"Just north of town. Don't say I didn't warn ya though." The man said in a disappointed tone. Hey man this won't be the last time we see each other.

"Hey Tenji!" I shouted before the older man could leave the room, "My name is Matthew Mathers. Thanks for helping me out. I still need to pay you back for that so don't think this is the last time you'll be hearing of me okay."

"All you rookies think you're hot shit. You can pay me back if you don't die, but I ain't holding ya to it." The man scowled. Which is fair enough I suppose. I really do need to start backing my words with action... Oh wait shit. Eina is gonna be sooo mad at me when she finds out what happened... Hestia and Lili too. I'm dead. Even if I live I'll die.

"Thanks anyways Tenji, I'll be on my way." I told him as I left the room. As I left the house I was greeted by a dainty town that looked like it was still in the process of being built. As I made my way out of the town I felt Pride's connection to me flair.

'What happened master, you went dark all of the sudden'

'Someone attacked me and dumped me on the eighteenth floor'

'Why though'

'Hell if I know. Anything going on with Dionysus?'

'Nothing. Also Lili wants to know where you are, should I tell'

'Please do.'

...

'Sooo?'

'She is very unhappy, Hestia too. You're grounded for a year'

'Fuck! Okay, tell them not to worry. I'll be back soon.'

'She wants you to stay put.'

'What? Why, I can just use Invisibility to get back safely.'

'She says she doesn't want you to do anything risky'

'I'm an adventurer! Going into the dungeon at all is risky!'

'Bell says he's coming into the dungeon, wants me on him so you know where he's at'

'What about Hestia?'

'You know she can't say no to Bell'

'Fair. Tell me when Bell gets into the dungeon, I'm going to start making my way down' I told him as I walked past a pond. Thinking about it for a moment I remembered how that minotaur could smell me through my invisibility. Quickly making my way to the pond I slathered some mud on my arms and face. I never was much of an outdoorsy person as far as I could actually remember so I wasn't sure this would cover my scent, but it was worth a shot regardless.

After covering my arms in mud I found my way to the stairway leading up to the seventeenth floor. The floor with the goliath boss monster. The monster that would make or break this little adventure. The walk up the stairs was intense. I could feel my heart beating intensely. Entering the next floor I was greeted with a long empty hall with the stairway to the next floor. The way it was set up I'd reckon you could run across the room to safety if you were fast enough.

I on the other hand simply walked across the floor. If the goliath spawned and Counterspell couldn't kill it I would rather be closer to Rivira. It didn't take long before the entire floor began to shake violently as cracks in the wall began to appear. A giant, man-like creature broke the wall before it and let loose an ear shattering cry. Even knowing that it wasn't a real threat didn't stop me from cowering before the creature. It radiated an aura of power I've never felt from the dungeon before. The magic put into creating this creature was greater than that of the pass parade I triggered on the first floor. For a brief moment I could have sworn the condensed hatred of the dungeon was bearing down on me once more.

"Counterspell!" I shouted as the spell formed between my hands. And just like that the monolith before me crumbled to dust. It was a bizarre feeling. To be able to instantly kill a creature who's mere presence cause dread upon its prey. None the less it was dead and it's body turned to dust. I waited a moment to ensure Dungeon-chan wouldn't punish me for the ohko, but nothing came. Dungeon-chan really didn't seem to care. Not wanting to linger in the dungeon longer than necessary I cast Invisibility and made my way to the sixteenth floor.

The sixteenth floor actually wasn't that bad. Mostly due to the fact that Dungeon-chan actively wasn't spawning monsters on me, likely because I was invisible and the monsters wouldn't be able to see me anyways. The only time I saw monsters on the floor was when I had passed by a group of six adventurers as they fought several large leopard monsters. They looked like they had the situation under control so I just made my way past them.

Hestia was so worried about me, but it really did seem like there was no genuine threat to me in the dungeon so long as I didn't act like an idiot. My magic made me leagues more powerful than any level one, let alone any human had any right to be. On top of that magic I had her blessing. Sure I may not be the strongest level one physically, but even with my pitiful agility stat I could make massive ground running across the dungeon. If I didn't have the inhuman speed granted to me by my falna then I would already have to recast Invisibility from the distance I've made. Even without prior knowledge of the sixteenth floor layout I flew through it, only taking about thirty minutes. Assuming I could make it out of the fifteenth floor in around the same time I would be able to cast Invisibility two more times getting me through the fourteenth through to the eleventh floor, from which I knew I'd be able to escape just using cantrips and tier one spells.

On my run through the mostly empty dungeon I spotted a few monsters. A few bunny monsters that looked like the needle rabbits except these ones stood on their hind legs and carried a weapon. Useless for my business and as undead in general. I could also probably just kick them to death. Likely the middle floor's version of a goblin. On top of that there were also dogs... Yeah just regular dogs as far as I could tell. On the thirteenth floor I saw what looked like an infant dragon eating on the remains of a man. Rather than the sleek snakeish appearance of the infant dragon this one looked more like a lizard with thicker scales and more bulky head. As I tried to make my way past the dragon It stopped eating the man which made me stop in my tracks. The dragon stopped to sniff the air and I prayed the mud would be enough to hide me. My prayers weren't enough it seemed as the dragon looked me dead in the eyes.

"Counterspell!" I cried as panic sept into my heart only to worsen at the result. The spell had failed. I knew I should have tested that earlier. "Fuck it! Longstrider."

I ran. Ran like I've never run before. Despite my falna, my magic... It wasn't good enough, the dragon was still breathing down my neck. Okay, no need to panic, just think of a plan. I used Counterspell twice, Invisibility twice and Longstrider. Out of tier three spells. I have one more tier two and three tier ones left in me, need to make it count. Bestow Curse? No, the dragon resists magic. I can't use any spells directly on it. Longstrider only made me marginally faster than the monster so it would buy me precious few seconds. Nothing more. Minor Illusion. Maybe it would fool the dragon for a second or two, but would cancel my Longstrider. Fuck. There was one more thing I could do to buy a little time... but...

"Fuck me... Old rivalries, bad blood, hated enemy, destined foe. Let rage flow through your veins, an endless sea of fire. You are mine, my wrath yours." I chanted running past a pack of the dog creatures. For a split second I could feel a mental connection between us and I directed my rage at the dragon. That dog would do just about fuck all, but the dog's contribution didn't matter. What mattered now was what Dungeon-chan was doing. As the dragon bit the dog in half I was hit by a nauseating wave of magic as the wall began to burst.

As hordes of dogs, rabbits and mantis' began pouring out of the walls I once more cast Invisibility. Now that my scent would be mixed with hundreds of monsters the dragon shouldn't be able to hunt me. That went for all of the other monsters as well. Sneaking out of the encounter I was greeted by a terrifying sight. Rather than spend even a moment wasting in confusion the dragon immediately used a fire breath attack to kill several dozen monsters between me and it. I don't have any more tier two or three spells. None of my tier one spells will be useful. Even without the dragon there were still over a hundred monsters here because my plan failed spectacularly. I was going to die.

I don't want to die. I don't want to die. The words kept repeating in my head. I knew it was coming, but I refuse to just give up. What kind of man would I be if I did? I still wanted to go home. I wanted to keep adventuring with Bell. I wanted to make enough money to bring Hestia to prominence. I wanted to go on another date with Lili. I don't want to die.

The dragon made it's move. It prowled towards me slowly, as if the creature was taunting me. The only positive I had was that the other monsters were seemingly too intimidated by the dragon to try anything. I knew I had nothing to stop it, but I had to try something. I may have been out of spell slots, but I knew that It was possible to use magic without them. I tried using my magic to cast Enlarge on myself. I felt myself grow as a intense pain shot through my head. The dragon seeing this charged me ready to rip my throat open. I quickly grabbed the two sides of its mouth to stop it to some success. The dragons teeth pieced my hands sending a sharp pain through my arms.

I may have stopped the dragon from biting my head off, but I couldn't stop the torrent of flames that came after. I could feel the few False Life spells I had cast earlier fighting their hardest to fix my melting skin. It burnt. It hurt so bad, but I couldn't give up. I could feel my magic drain drastically by the second as the pain in my head as well as the burning sensation growing worse. I didn't have long to beat this thing and all the other monsters.

Throwing a punch at the dragon as hard as I could the beast was knocked off of me. Now that I could stand my giant body would have a greater advantage. Wasting no time I charged the dragon and tried to pin it to the ground throwing punches when I could. Due to the dragon's long and maneuverable neck it still managed to rip into my shoulder. I could feel the burning intensify as I tried to hold on to my enlarge spell. I had maybe twenty seconds left at most. Punch after punch I could feel myself weakening. As I was engulfed by flames and eaten alive by the dragon the lesser monsters each made their own small contributions. I knew death was coming, ten seconds left before I was out of magic.

Desperately I pulled. I pulled on the magic surrounding me. Fighting to steal the magic of the monsters. The magic of the dungeon. I pulled as much as I could as the heat became more and more unbearable. I couldn't say there was any sophistication to what I was doing. Like a dying animal I thrashed about snarling and screaming. I just had to keep the spell up long enough. The dungeon. She really hated it. She kept shoving waves of magic into the walls as I tried desperately to consume it all. Hundreds of monsters poured out as the dragon and I struggled. I could feel the monsters around me being depleted of their magic as the room burned around us.

I couldn't think properly anymore. An injured dog raging against the world. The heat was was indescribable. even the parts of my body that haven't been lit aflame burnt like hellfire. I was fading in and out of consciousness. In my last moments of lucidity I saw a strange man covered head to toe in leather armor, face covered by a cowl. Wait, what happened to the dragon? I tried to look for the monster, but my body wouldn't move. Was I already dead? Had the reaper come for me? The burning was still there. However numb my body I could still feel the trickle of blood flowing down my head.

"What a fitting way for you to die." The man said. Despite the cruelty in his voice, something about it felt comforting. "I've always hated you. What you are. What you represent. What you've done to us."

The man stood above me as I felt myself dying. His eyes. They were emerald green. Just like mine.

"You were an animal, lived like one, acted like one, and now you will die like one." The man said taking a knee and pulling a dagger. I don't know how he knew me. I thought he was one of terrorists, but he sounded far too familiar with me. It was a shame I was going to die without even knowing who he is.

"LIGHNINGBOLT!" I heard Bell cry as an intense light blinded me accompanied by a loud boom. By the time my eyes readjusted the man was simply gone and Lili was at my side, Bell not far behind. Lili was saying something, but I couldn't hear it over the ringing in my ears. I just smiled and held her hand as my consciousness faded.

Hey sorry I took so long with this one. Irl stuff yk. After this chapter is posted I'm going to go back and edit previous chapters so it may also take a hot minute for the next one, though I'll try to have it out sooner.