Chapter 19: Vortex

"Come again, any time you like!" An overly enthusiastic voice sounded out as Hit rushed out of the tailor shop.

'Yes, quite eccentric, as expected.' Hit had managed to find someone who did not critique his fashion sense and was instead overjoyed to discuss garments that were out of the ordinary. The shop had been much neater and tidier than the previous one and was full of every style of clothing one could imagine.

A chill breeze ruffled Hit's new trench coat as he walked along: it was dark grey in colour and was left unbuttoned, revealing a form-fitting, dark cyan shirt underneath. The coat extended past his knees, revealing that his trousers were the same colour, held up by a belt with a gold-coloured buckle. He was currently wearing his armour underneath, their position in his backpack replaced by other sets of simple clothing he had also purchased. Stretching sounds exuded from dark-purple leather gloves, as he pulled them properly into place. Onlookers glanced at Hit, far more than once, demonstrating that he was finally beginning to look a little like his former self. Hit was looking forward to throwing the cheap rags from his village into the trash. Or maybe he should burn them?

Sadly, his coin pouch jangled far less than it had a few hours earlier.

'This leaves me with just 16,000 valis left. Segmented armour would have been nicer, but I can't expect such specialist items from random shops. I can commission an identical outfit later...when I'm richer.'

It pained Hit to spend so much, but it was a worthy investment. Besides, he just needed to kill a few hard armoured and he'd recoup the losses.

*r-ring*

A quiet bell sang as Hit entered his final shop for the day.

"Hm?" Hit faced a familiar woman: the Chienthrope that manned the Blue Pharmacy. For some reason, her ears drooped, and she looked rather unenthused when she recognised him. Hit ignored her, like last time, but quickly gathered five green potions and one blue vial, as well as some miscellaneous items for his dive, and placed them before her. "I will be purchasing these today."

'I may not have awakened magic, but I still want to see if the magic potion has an unusual effect on me. I would be kicking myself if I didn't try the elixir at least once.'

The sleepy girl quickly woke up from her drowsiness and raised her ears. Faint puffing sounds indicated that her tail was wagging, softly. "O-oh, thank you... that will be 11,700 valis...sir."

Hit crossed his arms and looked down at her, appearing far more menacing in the correct clothing. "I will be purchasing my potions here from now on. Would you consider 9,000 valis?"

Brown eyes narrowed as she realised that he was one of 'those' customers. "...11,500 valis...".

Hit tapped the counter, not expecting her to shoot up the price so much. "I'm not absolutely certain I will even be needing the magic potion. 10,000 valis."

Clattering and footsteps sounded from a small corridor to Hit's right.

"Naaza? Is someone there?" A friendly voice was drawing closer to them.

Shortly after, a handsome man walked into the room, medium length blue hair in a messy fringe. Bits of plant matter and flowers clung to his grey robes, suggesting that he was a potion crafter. Small blue eyes blinked at the intimidating boy. "Oh! Hello, I don't believe we have met. I am Miach, the owner of this shop".

Instead of shying away, he approached Hit, a genuine smile on his face. His colleague scratched her nails on the counter, as if she didn't want him here. "Are you a new adventurer? Did you need any assistance?"

Hit looked the man over. Sensing no danger, he relaxed. "Yes. I'm merely working out a price for these items." He extended a palm to direct Miach to the counter.

Miach's eyes widened as he saw the assortment of glass tubes, ropes, bags, and other adventuring items. "Goodness! Well, if you're a new adventurer, then I can give you a helpful discount and a few samples... let me get you some more vials."

The items jangled as Naaza got up from her seat, sweating nervously. "B-but Lord Miach... our familia needs the funds..."

Hit kept his eyes fixed on the woman; she moved much more quickly than a simple shop worker. 'Familia? Lord? Does that mean that this man is a God? He seems so plain and... normal.'

The potential god lectured his assistant for the umpteenth time. "Now, Naaza... We need to support the young and inexperienced! Every little helps."

The woman, 'Naaza', let her head hang. It seems that she had given up on halting the overly caring god's actions.

Thankfully, Hit's stubbornness came to her rescue. "Haggling is a form of strategy, but I refuse to receive handouts. If your familia truly is in such dire straits, then I will purchase them at full price, plus tip."

Miach scrunched up his face in worry. "Oh, but you don't have to do that!"

Hit's eyes blazed at the man's watery orbs. He was almost certain Miach was a god; all the ones he had met so far were too perfect to be organic life forms.

"But I will."

*Clink*

A bag thumped on the counter as Hit placed all his remaining valis on it. Naaza's tail wagged, incredibly fiercely, as the shiny discs overflowed. Her arms followed suit as she packed Hit's purchase into a few bags, ravenously.

Miach did not know what to do, as he darted his attention between the unusually energetic girl and the strange newcomer. "W-what? P-Please, you really don't have to do that! You're a beginner, I can't charge you that much!"

Hit ignored the god and focused on his items. "It is my money, and I can do what I will with it." He grasped the paper bags and strolled out into the bustling street.

Miach had never been this confused as he stood, gobsmacked. The shop bell's chime seemed to reanimate him. "D-Did he just...!? I have to go after him!"

Lord Miach tried looking around for Hit for some time, but the charitable boy may as well have vanished into thin air.

"Hmmmmm"

Our well-dressed protagonist breathed in the crisp dungeon air as he walked down the 9th floor. Hit had blitzed his way down and made it a game to eliminate the upper floor monsters as quickly as possible. Only the largest monster stones were collected, since he would be making the big bucks lower down.

A few creatures had stood out along the way. The sixth-floor war shadows were incredibly agile, if a little fragile. They appeared to be dark, humanoid phantoms, with blade like limbs. A simple jab to their glowing red heads had ended their fleeting existence. What was the point of such an obvious weak point?

On the seventh to ninth floors, purple moths had buzzed around, emitting a poisonous powder, whilst needle rabbits jumped at Hit, intending to stab him while he avoided the purple smog. Hit had just wacked them out of the air, causing comical sploshing sounds as they erupted into red and green mist.

Shockingly, needle rabbits were... rabbits with thin horns on their heads, and purple moths were... large, purple-coloured moths...

Anyway, the only annoyances were killer ants, which needed to be eliminated swiftly, else they alert the rest of their colony. It would not be a danger to Hit, their large numbers would simply be a waste of time. Any nearby adventurers could also get caught up in the frenzy.

Hit glanced at his map, picked up from the familia library, and wrote down some more monster spawn points. According to the document, he was nearly at the 10th floor. The rucksack was rather light, since he had left most of his purchases at the mansion, such as the extra clothes. His new garments had drawn everyone's eyes, although no one had bothered him, thankfully.

The blue magic vial had already been drunk. Sadly, Hit felt no different, although the liquid had a nice blueberry flavour to it.

'I only lost 4,300 valis on my purchase, so no harm done. It was a good way to get rid of the extra weight. Besides, I can now start my adventure, using my own two hands.'

This strategy seemed counterintuitive for someone who was trying to get rich. However, Hit was only using the money to get himself started. In addition, a part of Hit wasn't fond of the fact that it had been handed to him. He hated owing debts or receiving handouts.

A narrow hallway signalled the entrance to a new floor. Hit reached the apex of a very steep set of stairs and gazed out onto a barren landscape below. It was as if the world had turned white, buried in a layer of pure bone ash. Forests of dead trees littered the floor, making the entire floor look incredibly uniform. Hit recognised them as landform weapons, structures generated by the dungeon to be used by monsters.

Hit had a small bite to eat, then descended down.

...

*Snap*

A branch snapped from above as Hit walked through the ghostly wood.

He ducked.

*Giiiii!*

*Hihihi!*

*Grii!*

A flock of winged demons zipped by the space that Hit's head had occupied, laughing, and cackling at him. He backed up and got a good look at the filthy creatures. They appeared to be winged goblins, albeit grey in colour, and possessed tails and more defined features.

'Imps. They look a little like the denizens of the demon realm, created by Mechikabura and Demigra.'

A flock of dark bats flittered about the borders of the battlefield, sharp fangs glistening in the bright light. '... and bad bats. A troublesome combination.'

Hit blocked his ears, using some ear plugs he had purchased just for these pests. His acute spatial awareness would have to make up for the loss of hearing.

*Rumble*

The earth shook as a figure was birthed from the dungeon and raised themselves up to towering heights.

*Grrr*

'...Well, aren't you a fat bastard.'

A bipedal pig-like creature scratched at itself and snuffled the air. An old stinking hide was wrapped around its incredibly sizeable waist. It was an orc, a rather tall one that reached three metres in height. The thing bent down and uprooted one of the spindly trees, that littered the floor, revealing it had a club-like shape under the ashen earth. The pig then raised and lowered its weapon, right where Hit was standing, cratering the earth below. Luckily, Hit dashed to the side, but was instantly assaulted by a pack of imps.

'Don't think so.'

*shing*

*shing*

*shing*

Hit dodged the nebulous orb of flying teeth and fangs, and used a rapid succession of time skips to pinpoint the devils and grasp at their rake-like bodies. Squelches rang out as he squeezed the life out of them. Black smoke quickly became the dominant effect as the vast majority of the flock was obliterated. The bad bats chittered angrily above. Why were their sonic attacks having no effect!?

The monsters switched tactics next: bad bats and imps combined forces and rushed at Hit; whereas, the orc swung his club horizontally, close to the surface.

*shing*

Hit saw the swing's trajectory and leapt over the weapon, after his skill deactivated. He ran under the creature's arm and sent a powerful time skip jump spike upwards. "Hmph".

*GROOOOORR!*

The orc's stomach glowed purple and was reduced to bubbling pus as it was liquefied.

*Shiii!*

*Griii!*

Hit flipped back, avoiding the shoal of flying monsters, and kept running until he came across the club that the orc had swung.

"Good thing I have plenty of practice with this!"

Hit's muscles bulged as he picked up the tree and spun it around himself as quickly as he could. The murmuration of bats and devils was squashed to paste in the deadly vortex. Hit's part time work had unexpected benefits. "Graaah!"

Hit let the pillar fly at the pig, akin to a certain cyborg mercenary from long ago.

*Grrrroink!*

Beady black eyes bulged, comically.

*CRASH*

Viscera and blood gushed from an enormous circular wound; the tree went straight through the monster's chest!

*Smash*

The titan fell to Earth and vaporised, leaving behind its treasure. Hit picked the stone up and smirked. "Now this is more like it."

A very happy boy walked into the guild, all freshened up from the guild baths, and walked up to the money exchange booth. The sun had set a few hours ago, demonstrating that Hit had been down for over six hours. Hit had decimated the 10th to 12th floors, killing a number of hard armoured, orcs, and silverbacks. It was an incredibly good workout for him; however, as long as he remained vigilant, it wasn't too life threatening. Any other adventurer would not agree with this though, and call his actions borderline suicidal.

Hit approached the lattice counter and upended his rucksack. Instead of a heap of small pebble sized rocks, an assortment of much larger objects rained down, making quite the racket; important tools and supplies were strapped down, preventing them from joining the pile.

The worker behind the shield gasped, yet carried out his duty. He had never seen this boy before; how did he kill so many powerful monsters? "...100,000 valis... have a nice day."

Hit smirked at the number. 'Fantastic! I've completely recouped my losses. Although, these stones are certainly worth far less than that cow, at least individually.'

A single minotaur stone was worth 50,000 valis; demonstrating just how much stronger level 2 monsters were.

Unbeknownst to Hit, Bell and his new supporter would go on to make 26,000 valis in a single day, fighting up to the 7th floor. Even further into future, the trio of Bell, Lili, and Welf would make 76,000 valis on the twelfth floor. Hit had beaten them badly, all while solo, thanks to his inhuman dexterity, strength, and time skip technique. Skipping the upper floor fodder was also a key strategy.

Hit picked the bag up and placed it in his rucksack. "Thank you", with a nod he set off for the door.

Another reason for his giddiness, was a familiar weight in his soul, steadily accruing throughout the day. Now that Hit could finally skip time again, he could stockpile it. This ability was known as time storage: any time that is skipped can be stored for later use. One tenth of a second may not seem like much, but he had amassed a sizable amount after hundreds of years of skipping time in his former life. He simply had to start all over again here.

The culmination of this technique was demonstrated during his second bout against Goku, when he was hired by the foolhardy Saiyan to assassinate him. Here, latent time, stored during Hit's long existence, was used to create a separate space: a parallel world known as the tides of time. After the initiation of this technique, Hit exits the flow of time of the universe he is currently residing in and moves into a parallel dimension of his own creation. Opponents can also be drawn into it, isolating them from any nuisances, such as reinforcements. As an added bonus, intangible phantoms are left in his former position in space-time, in the 'real' world, as a distraction for his enemies. 'I wonder, could I somehow manipulate space and time if I stored enough energy?'

A familiar elf rushed to him, blocking his path. "Mr Hit! I was worried when you never appeared! I'm so glad you're safe..." Eina grasped at her heart; it wasn't too uncommon for rookie adventurers to perish on their first few days.

Hit decided not to ignore her; she was an honest, hardworking person. "Everything proceeded excellently."

Eina got a good look at him and smiled serenely. "I can see! You seem much happier now. Those clothes suit you very well, by the way."

Hit did a doubletake at that comment. How could she tell his mood? "Yes, fighting against multiple orcs was especially enjoyable."

The elf tilted her head, robotically. Her smile became far more sinister. "Haha. I-I didn't quite hear you there, Hit. Would you mind repeating yourself?" Eina had just heard something utterly unbelievable. No, she was just a little stressed, that was all.

Hit quirked a brow at having to repeat himself. The half-elf's ears were certainly large enough to hear him from this close by. "I was simply stating how entertaining my battles were on the twelfth floor. Pitting orcs and hard armoured against each other was a highlight... Like cracking eggs."

Eina's sinister smile grew into an evil facsimile of a grin. "I thought so." The girl marched right at Hit and grabbed the collar of his cloak.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF!?"

Everyone, currently in the guild, covered their ears and shied away at the terrible screech.

Hit wished he had kept his earplugs in. ゴゴ "Unhand me." ゴゴ

Eina shook her head, and Hit's collar. The boy cringed at the creases that were forming. "No! You, a day one adventurer, went to the twelfth floor! Do you have any idea how ludicrously dangerous that is!? I simply cannot believe you survived such an ordeal, regardless of your... situation."

Hit sighed. He was not used to dealing with opponents you could not punch in the face. "I heavily doubt I can convince you. It is likely best that you talk to Loki".

Eina was not shaken, not one bit. "I will! We are marching to the manor right now, and I am seeing Lady Loki, no matter what! Come on mister."

A very grumpy elf marched in an overly formal fashion. Hit grasped at his face and huffed, before following after her.

Author's Notes

Okay, that should be fine for now. Hope you enjoy! I'm off and will upload later/tomorrow :)

Oh, and I started uploading on Wattpad too as GenkaiZero. Personally, I dislike the site; however, it seems quite popular.