《Layers of Hell》 Prologue 1
You have defeated the Overlord of Hell! As the first player to uncover the true story, and halt the plot of the Overlord, there is an exclusive option available. Would you like to begin New Game +? You will be allowed to keep one skill from your current playthrough.
¡°Finally!¡± I shouted out, raising my hands to the sky. I had stayed up all night playing this game known as Layers of Hell, a popular game that had been out for nearly a year. Long hours and a solid theory had finally paid off, and I managed to defeat the hidden final boss. However, to be declared the first person to find the clues in nearly a year, that was a pleasant surprise. I was even more surprised by the concept of the New Game + that was mentioned. This was a fairly uncommon feature in games, as many did not have the replay value that Layers of Hell possessed. The concept of New Game + was fairly simple, you had the ability to start the game from the very beginning, typically with some extra help. This bonus would typically seem cheat-like at the earlier levels, but eventually would level out. Sometimes, these games would have an increased difficulty or bonus content that could only be found in New Game +. Feeling the drowsiness from my long night of gaming kick in, I resolved myself to accept, go through character creation, then save in the tutorial so that I could sleep. Pulling up the list of options for skills to retain, I was unsure for a while. I mean, this wasn¡¯t exactly an easy decision. One of the ultimate skills, which was only found at the lowest depths of hell, could pause time in the surroundings. However, the mana cost was way too high for a brand new character to use, so that one was out. Hell, most of the skills required more in the way of stats than a new character could provide. In the end, I had to select one, so I chose the skill which took me the longest time to grind, and which would be most useful to the earlier floors.
You have chosen to keep Equipment Mastery as your starting skill. With this, you will have innate knowledge of how to use any equipment you acquire to its fullest potential. Note: This skill does not provide access to magic-related equipment skills.
Nodding at my choice, I began customizing my character. Equipment Mastery was really one of the few things I could have picked. And, for the starting floors, it would be the most help. For my character, I used the same appearance and name as I had before, so that part was handled quickly. I really just wanted to get this over with, so that I could pass out. Shortly after I finished customizing my character, and confirming that everything was the same, I felt the night¡¯s exhaustion start to overtake me. I barely had enough time coherent to press the accept button before my eyes closed, preventing me from seeing the screen that appeared next.
You will now be transferred to the Tutorial zone. Please enjoy your adventures in the Layers of Hell.
Layers of Hell, a popular game released in 2029. Its concept, battle through the many layers of the underworld to get the skills and equipment you need to escape Hell itself. While it was not an easy game to win, it was an even harder one to lose. That was because, every time you died, you were sent to the next layer of Hell, with all of your abilities and equipment that remained on your body.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. After a few weeks, people began to experiment to see how far down they could go. Unarmored, they challenged strong monsters on every floor, watching as the difficulty steadily increased. Eventually, they found the limit. Nine hundred and ninety-nine layers in total. After dying on the 999th layer, the save was marked. You could not play the game again with that character, even if you reverted to an earlier version. Thanks to that discovery, the final layer in Layers of Hell became both a taboo and a mystery. People wanted to see if there was any extra content on this final floor, but at the same time, a single death would erase all of their hard work. And, don¡¯t think that it is easy to get to the 999th floor, simply by killing yourself repeatedly. If you want to survive the floor, and explore to discover the new content, you have to spend time on each floor on your way down, gathering as many of the special abilities as you can find. Finally, nearly a full year later, a man by the name of Jeremy Blake discovered a clue. On the 251st floor, he found mention of a supreme ruler on the lowest level. Following this lead, he discovered other references throughout the game. The one who ruled over the souls of the damned, gathering the truly fallen to wage a war against the surface world. It should be reiterated, until this point the only known method to complete the game was to defeat the boss on the very first layer, and escape Hell itself. Few people ever had a need to go below layer 100 in order to accomplish this. However, Jeremy knew what these clues meant. There was a secret boss at the bottom, an alternate ending! It took him weeks to get down there the first time, but he managed to find that final boss. In the end, his character was still destroyed, but he was sure of its existence! So, he went in again, and again. After his second try, he looked online and found a save editor for the game. Not exactly a legit way to win, but he was desperate at this point to learn that final secret. Revising his save so that his character was playable again, he confronted the boss over and over, learning all of the tricks he could to the fight, before finally beating it. It could be said that he wasted those weeks of his life, all for the sake of a game. And, the people who said that would be absolutely right! All because of his obsession, his girlfriend left him. He spent so much of his time absorbed in the game that he forgot his social life. If he wasn¡¯t afraid of the electricity getting cut off, he may have even stopped going to work. But, now his dreams had been realized. A chorus of angels descended in his mind to announce his victory. The Overlord was dead. But what awaited him now?
I felt my body lying on a cold surface as awareness slowly returned to me. Fuck¡­ did I pass out at my computer, and fall out of the chair again? However, that thought left me as I felt that the floor below me was not the hardwood floor of my bedroom, but rough stone. ¡°Finally woke up, Grim?¡± I heard a familiar, female voice speaking. Where have I heard that before? Slowly, I opened my eyes, seeing a blue stone floor beneath me. Hay was scattered around the small room, which only had one occupant aside from myself. In the corner was a single, small bed, one which I was obviously not sleeping in. Instead, sitting on the bed was a woman who made my eyes go wide. Skin as red as fresh blood, a short, curvaceous frame. Ample breasts covered in torn rags. Her eyes were pitch black, though I could feel that she was glaring at me. Atop her head was long, black hair, disturbed only by the two red horns protruding from the tops of her head. On her back were a pair of small, black wings that flapped lightly, looking unable to carry her. Finally, protruding from her lower back was a red, spaded tail. ¡°Are you going to sleep all day? Inspection¡¯s coming soon, and we have to be ready if we want to move.¡± She spoke, her delicate arms crossed below her bosom. No way¡­ This was undoubtedly the tutorial room for Layers of Hell, the prison of the first layer. And¡­ sitting in front of me, was even more familiar to me. The demon who controls the life and death of billions of souls, the true Overlord of Hell, Lilith. This can¡¯t be real. I thought to myself, pushing up to my feet and walking towards her. She gave a small sigh of relief, until I was standing immediately in front of her. Then, the only sound she made was a pitiful squeal of embarrassment. A thundering crack echoed through the prison, earning the laughs of dozens of inmates. Naturally, I was the cause, or rather my face was when it encountered Lilith¡¯s hand. Looking up from the floor, I saw her pushed back to the far corner of the bed, both arms over her chest. I swear that her face was an even darker shade of red. However, I still clearly remembered that soft sensation between my fingers, and the pain transmitted through my skin when she reacted. What the fuck did I get myself into? Prologue 2 ¡°If you want a one-way ticket to the second layer, at least wait until we are out of here!¡± Lilith hissed at me, still covering her breasts with her arms. However, I was too distracted to notice as I stared at my hand. Not because of the feeling I remembered, but what it signified. If¡­ if this is truly Layers of Hell¡­ did I die? Did I slip into one of those old reincarnation tales? But¡­ there¡¯s usually a meeting with god or something if that happens, right? This is too real to be a dream, but can it really be real? ¡°Grim?¡± I vaguely heard Lilith¡¯s voice again, though it had lost much of its venom. ¡°What happened?¡± It was at this point that I noticed the dampness on my cheeks. If this really wasn¡¯t a dream¡­ then I was all alone. My family¡­ my friends, all gone. Sarah, what will she think? That I died playing the game that I ignored her for? ¡°Grim!¡± I felt a thin hand grabbing my ragged vest. ¡°I need you coherent. If you want to space out, do it when we¡¯re free. The guards are coming, so stand up unless you want to die again.¡± Her words stabbed at my mind, and I hastily crawled to my feet. At first, I asked myself if she knew what had happened to me, until I remembered where this was. Layers of Hell, where death is an everyday occurrence. Then, I noticed something else.Grim¡­ that¡¯s not my name, is it? I¡¯m Jeremy! But, didn¡¯t I name my character Grim?In truth, I named all my characters for Layers of Hell the same thing. Grim Styles, I thought it sounded cool. If this is my character, and this is really the tutorial area¡­My face paled at what I knew was coming. The purpose of every tutorial is to teach basic game mechanics. The same thing is true for Layers of Hell. And, what is the single most unique game mechanic it has to offer? Death, endless death. This was one of those games where you fight the final boss in the tutorial, with absolutely no chance of success. The only way the tutorial boss had ever been beaten was when people hacked the game, cheating their character to an insane level. Naturally, I couldn¡¯t do anything like that, but¡­ I had hope.The boss of the First Layer¡­ the Gatekeeper. Maybe.. Maybe I can get back to my life?Anyone who defeats the boss of the first layer, and steps through the gate to the surface is supposedly brought back to life. Or at least, that is the lore of the game. Maybe I don¡¯t have to beat the Gatekeeper. Maybe, I can just slip by unnoticed.It was every soul¡¯s dream to conquer the Gatekeeper and earn redemption. Aside from Lilith herself, he was the strongest boss in the game. You could even say that, in a single fight, Lilith might be slightly weaker. The reason that the Gatekeeper was easier to beat would simply be because losing to Lilith made you start all over. ¡°Grim? Snap out of it, they¡¯re almost here.¡± Lilith hissed into my ear, slapping my back to make me stand up straight. I knew what was about to happen. And, if it happened the same way it did in the game, I knew where we would end up. Soon, two dwarves with blue skin, wearing metal armor and carrying axes bigger than their bodies appeared. ¡°Lilith, Grim. Front and center.¡± The two of us quickly moved near the iron door of our cell, our hands at our sides. In the original storyline, there was indeed an NPC companion of the opposite gender that spawned with you in the tutorial. However, it obviously wasn¡¯t supposed to be Lilith. That being said, she seemed to fill in the same role for this scenario. ¡°Now!¡± She called out as the dwarves entered our cell, lunging towards one of them while I did the same to the other. I had to forget my worries for now, or else I really would end up dying again. I only had one hope of quickly getting back to my life, however messed up that sounds. The dwarves, having not been expecting the sudden ambush, took a moment too late to react. Lilith effortlessly disarmed one of them, tossing the axe out into the hall, while I struggled with the second. It refused to let go of its axe, and was starting to push me back, until I brought my knee up to smack against its head. With that, its grip slackened, and I was able to acquire the axe.
Dwarven Axe +1 acquired.
The message briefly flashing in the front of my mind surprised me, but at the same time, I felt a rush of information. Information related directly to this axe, as well as various skills that I could activate with it. I felt my right hand moving towards the head of the axe, as my left moved towards its base. In my mind, I knew this was the proper way to hold the axe, despite having never held one before in either of my lives. ¡°What are you waiting for, come on!¡± Lilith shouted from the doorway, holding it open for me. ¡°Right!¡± I snapped back to reality, or whatever this was, and reached down to pick the keys from the fallen dwarf before it came back to its senses. ¡°I have an idea!¡± ¡°What is it?!¡± She hissed out, annoyed. ¡°We don¡¯t have time to improvise!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have time not to!¡± I replied, tossing her the keys. ¡°The Gatekeeper will be here any minute. We need a distraction.¡± Already, there were prisoners shouting after having witnessed us attack the two guards. Following the normal scenario, we would have to sneak our way through the passageways while avoiding most of the remaining guards, and encounter the Gatekeeper immediately after making it out of the prison. ¡°What?!¡± She yelled in wide eyes. ¡°The Gatekeeper is coming?! Why didn¡¯t you mention that sooner!¡± In a panic, she grabbed the keys, and began running to each cell, unlocking them one by one and letting their occupants leave. Meanwhile, I turned towards the two dwarves. First¡­ sweeping strike!I thought in my mind, as an axe skill appeared in my hand. Turning the head of the axe sideways, I brought it down like a broom, heavily smacking the dwarf Lilith had knocked out of the cell back into it. After that, I hastily closed the cell door to prevent them from getting out. Keeping the axe for now, I went to join up with Lilith, who was unlocking her fifth cell. There were over a hundred in this block, but we didn¡¯t have time for them all. ¡°This¡¯ll have to do, let¡¯s move!¡± I urged her along after she opened the fifth cell, and she reluctantly followed. As we moved to the hall, we heard the sounds of footsteps approaching.Damn, the first wave¡¯s already here. Well, this should be enough to deal with it.I thought, looking at my new axe. ¡°We¡¯ll have to break through this group, then head to the armory. We won¡¯t make it anywhere without weapons.¡± Lilith nodded, understanding my logic. The original tutorial had us stopping at the armory anyways, so it was on the path for us. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out into the hall, greeting the five dwarves that were charging towards us. Like the two guards we previously encountered, all five were carrying large axes. Dragon Cleaver!I shouted in my mind, activating a higher level axe skill. I felt my grip tighten on the axe, my right foot moving back and to the side. With a loud shout, I spun my body in a full circle, bringing my right hand to the base of the axe while my left hand released it entirely. Borrowing the centrifugal force of the spin, the outstretched axe slammed heavily into the first of the charging guards. There was a sickening crunch, and my arm stung as the impact sent shockwaves through the weapon. My arm almost felt like it was being torn apart as the dwarf cried out, blood spilling from its mouth. Its body was smashed back into the second and third dwarves, while the last two continued their charge. Okay¡­ that skill seems a bit much. Back to basics. Axe Strike!I brought the axe above my head, using my sore arm as a guide for the head, while my left arm grabbed the hilt and slammed it down. Thanks to having a longer reach than the dwarves, I was easily able to attack them before they got to me. The problem was the fifth dwarf, who had plenty of time to approach while the head of the fourth was being split open. He let out an angry roar, brandishing his weapon and swinging it at my waist from the side. ¡°Watch out!¡± I heard, before a red leg kicked the blunt side of the axe head to knock it off balance, turning the lethal strike into merely a painful slap. Still, I was sent back a few paces, clutching my side.Damn, only two down so far.The two dwarves that I had sent the first one back into were already pushing their dead friend off of themselves, climbing to their feet. Lilith, standing near where I had just been, looked to me with slight concern. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this, break through!¡± She shouted, jumping back to support me. I began wracking my brain for a skill to use. Normally, we would choose our fights, and only battle after getting equipped. Even then, it would be two or three enemies at most. Got it! Lunge!I brought the axe to my side, and lowered my body to run forward. The dwarves, seeing that, raised their weapons defensively, the long shafts covering their bodies diagonally to absorb the force of an attack. However, what I was doing here was a bit different. Halfway to the dwarves, I started swinging the axe from the side preemptively, my right hand slowly sliding down it to join my left just as it was at the base, and the weapon itself was directly in front of me. Then, I jumped forward, borrowing the force of the swing to move slightly faster. The blunt top of the axe slammed against one of the dwarves¡¯ weapons, knocking them several paces back and onto the floor while I pushed through, Lilith right behind meIf you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. We didn¡¯t have much of a chance against the three dwarves on our own. Especially since I was the only one with a weapon, and had already suffered an injury. Instead, I dropped the axe so that we could sprint down the hallway at our top speed, outpacing the armored dwarven guards. After a few sharp turns, we had lost them. Lilith breathed out a sigh of relief once we seemed to be in the clear. ¡°Good¡­ that¡¯s the first obstacle. Where did you learn to fight like that?¡± She looked to me, one eyebrow slightly raised. ¡°Uhm¡­ I¡¯ve been doing some training?¡± I hurriedly explained. I couldn¡¯t say that I had learned the skill of one of the floor masters, because that would take too long to fully explain. ¡°Let¡¯s just get to the armory while we can.¡± Lilith furrowed her brows, but dropped the matter. In the end, we began moving through the halls, our bodies practically glued to the wall. We heard more dwarves running around, but kept ourselves hidden until we reached the armory. Inside the armory was a large rack of weapons, with several shelves for the blue dwarven armor. While the armor would never fit either of us, the dwarves tended to wield weapons far larger than normal for their size. However, I needed to pick something light, as my arm was still hanging at my side, feeling like I tore a muscle. It would be nice if she had some healing magic.In Layers of Hell, there was no such thing as a health potion. The only way to magically heal was, you guessed it, healing magic. And, while it is possible to learn magic on several layers, it¡¯s obviously out of the question for the tutorial. In the end, I chose two short swords as my weapons, opting to dual wield for now. I also grabbed a single longsword, which I planned to switch to once my arm was better. In the back of my mind, I still knew that this was all wrong, that I should be sitting in a corner and panicking. If it wasn¡¯t for the slim chance that I could slip past the Gatekeeper, I might be doing just that. But, I was a man with a goal. I was either going to come back to life, or die trying. Once we were equipped with our weapons, the two of us made our way back out. This time, Lilith was leading the charge, as she had noticed the state of my arm. I walked in the back, grimacing to myself as I thought.I really do still have Equipment Mastery, and can use item skills. But¡­ it figures, if I try to use one without the proper stats, there will be a backlash. Thinking that far, I focused on my character information, trying to pull it up. Thankfully, a blue window did appear in front of me.
Name: Grim Styles Level: 1 Race: Human Class: None
Strength: 11 Vitality: 9 Dexterity: 9 Health: 70%
Wisdom: 8 Intelligence: 9 Luck: 3 Magic: 100%
Titles
Conqueror of Hell +10 all stats
Skills
Equipment Mastery 100% proficiency will all equipment, and the ability to use all nonmagical equipment-related skills. Ability to identify equipment.
I nodded slightly as I reviewed the information. My Luck was terrible, but everything else was as I had set it when making this character. Sadly, luck was generated at random for every character. What I did enjoy was the title. Titles in Layers of Hell were a rarity, but each one had the potential to vastly increase power. Although abilities and equipment are maintained every time you die, you will lose all levels. The only way to permanently increase your attributes were to either train them manually, or learn abilities that would raise them. Titles are another option, but it is incredibly hard to earn a title. Without a moment of hesitation, I activated my one title. Titles could have hidden effects on game content, so each one had to be manually activated before its effects became apparent. What I saw in my sheet when I had done that made me very happy.
Name: Grim Styles Level: 1 Race: Human Class: None
Strength: 21 Vitality: 19 Dexterity: 19 Health: 83%
Wisdom: 18 Intelligence: 19 Luck: 13 Magic: 100%
Titles
Conqueror of Hell +10 all stats
Skills
Equipment Mastery 100% proficiency will all equipment, and the ability to use all nonmagical equipment-related skills. Ability to identify equipment.
I nodded, looking ahead as I confirmed my new stats. The pain in my arm lessened considerably, but I was still not comfortable enough to bring out the longsword. Lilith quickly raised one hand, in which she held a dagger, to signal for me to stop. I was wondering why, when a moment later I heard the loud footsteps of heavy dwarven feet charging down a nearby hallway. I held my twin swords at the ready, but we saw the dwarves charge past at a nearby intersection, avoiding us entirely. We still gave several long seconds before moving, as we were getting closer and closer to the entrance.At this point, we should have had to fight at least two groups of dwarves. Did the distraction pull them away enough to give us a clean escape? My thoughts were dismissed the moment we exited the prison. Lilith immediately let out an ecstatic laugh, while my face grew as pale as death itself. The first layer was one of ice and snow, and the small mountain in front of me was one I knew all too well. A creature standing twenty meters tall, made of rocks and snow shaped vaguely into the form of a human figure with spikes all along its skin. At its feet laid nearly a half dozen corpses, the very same prisoners that we had spent our time to free as a distraction. Seeing them there, not a single body fully intact, I knew my hope of getting to the gate was nothing but a dream. I was going to die here, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. ¡°Come on, you giant snowball!¡± Lilith called out with a grin. ¡°Get it over with already!¡± She tilted her head back and let out a roar of laughter as the Gatekeeper slowly advanced, one heavy step bringing it right in front of us. Lilith knew no fear at this point, because we were outside of the prison. Every layer of Hell had one landmark in the same location, and that was the prison. When you died, you moved to the same position you were at, but one layer down. So, as long as we do not move back inside the prison walls, we will not appear within the prison on the second layer. To Lilith, at this point death was not only inevitable, but welcome. As for me? I felt my whole body shaking, my mind reeling at the realization that I would not be able to get past this behemoth. Only one thing awaited me at this point, as the Gatekeeper raised its arm to point at us.Why me¡­ why¡­My thought was interrupted as pain shattered my consciousness, a spear of ice slamming through my chest.
Tutorial complete! Welcome to the Layers of Hell.
Chapter 1: Die Another Day I died¡­That thought flashed through my mind as I found myself laying on a vast expanse of green grass. I could still vaguely feel the pain from the Gatekeeper¡¯s ice spear as it pierced my chest. Reaching my hand up, I even found that there was still a hole in the rags I had been wearing, revealing the toned skin where there should have been a gaping wound. All around me, I heard the joyous laughs from the prisoners that had successfully made it to the Gatekeeper, only to be killed and sent here. Among them was only one voice I recognized, my former cellmate and the Overlord of Hell from the story I knew. ¡°Finally! We¡¯re out of there!¡± She stood near me, stretching her arms out and basking in the light shining down from above. Still, I only knew one thing. I had failed to get back to the gate. Failed to return to my life. If my experiences in the cell had not convinced me that this was real, the act of dying and being reborn certainly had. I was well and truly stuck here. After a few long moments, I found Lilith standing over me, showing a happy smile on her face while her tail whipped back and forth elegantly behind her. ¡°Come on, sleepyhead. You act like you never died before. We better get moving before they send out some guards to round us up.¡± It seemed like she had entirely forgotten about dying, about the pain. Even about what I had done to her in the cell. Though, she may have only been putting that last matter off now that I helped her get out. Either way, she helped me to my feet, and we began slowly walking away. Rather, she walked while pulling along my almost-unresponsive body. I would not resist her, but at the same time, I felt like I had lost all motivation to actually do anything myself. What¡¯s the point?Would I really be able to get strong enough to come back and challenge the Gatekeeper if I followed the path of the original story? There¡¯s a difference between playing a game and the real thing, you know? Being good at a first person shooter doesn¡¯t make you an expert marksman. It¡¯s not like some of those virtual reality games where real skill can affect the outcome. After walking for over an hour through thick bushes and sparse trees, Lilith seemed to have decided that we had moved far enough. So, she steered me towards a tree and let me lean on it. Gradually, I slid down the tree until I was sitting on the ground with my back to it. ¡°Alright, mister, fess up. You¡¯re in no shape to go off on your own, and I want to know why.¡± I looked up to see her staring at me, her arms crossed over her chest. Since she had also taken a giant ice spear to her chest, the rags had torn to reveal a dangerous amount of cleavage. ¡°I¡­¡±How can I even begin to explain it? Do I tell her that her world is a lie, a game created for the amusement of others?¡°I¡¯m¡­ new here. You could, you could say that I just died before we met.¡± That was the only explanation that I could come up with that wasn¡¯t a total lie, and didn¡¯t make me sound like a madman. Lilith¡¯s stern face softened slightly when I said that. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t realize¡­ How did you even end up in that prison in the first place?¡± I couldn¡¯t stop the bitter laugh that emerged from my through. ¡°Would you believe me if I told you that it is where I arrived at?¡± There was no lore from Layers of Hell regarding the crime that the player did to earn their spot in the jail for the tutorial, so the only answer I could give was the truth. This time, she gave a pained wince, kneeling down in front of me. ¡°Ouch¡­ Still, you helped me get out of there. I was born here, so I can¡¯t understand the pain of someone who fell, like you did. But I know that it¡¯s not easy to help a stranger, and the first death is never a pleasant one.¡± She tried to offer me a comforting smile, but given who I knew her as, it just felt wrong. In Layers of Hell, Lilith was merciless. If you appeared before her, that in itself was a crime that would cost your head. She is the one who was organizing tens of millions of powerful demons to prepare an assault on the surface world, to plunge everything into chaos. But now, that same woman, that same face was trying to comfort me. ¡°Lilith¡­ can I ask you a question?¡± I needed to know, was she the same Lilith? Or, had the setting changed when I came here? Seeing her look at me curiously, not rejecting my question, I went ahead and asked. ¡°How many layers have you been through?¡± This didn¡¯t seem to be too strange of a question, since I had personally experienced a transition from the first to second layer of Hell. Lilith nodded slightly, tilting her head to the side as she thought about it. ¡°Well, I was born on the tenth layer. I think the lowest I ever went was the fifteenth, before I found a way to smuggle myself back home.¡± She sighed, shaking her head. ¡°When they found out about that, I earned an express trip to the first floor¡¯s prison.¡± I nodded my head lightly. There were really two methods of moving through floors, either up or down. To move down, you had to die, and to move up you had to find the gate. However, there was the alternative of being smuggled. However, any player caught being smuggled would be sent to the prison of that floor.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Still, if she had never been lower than the fifteenth floor, and she is telling the truth, it¡¯s not really possible for her to be the same Lilith.Is it just the name and the body that is identical?As I was thinking that, I found her watching me closely. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Uhm¡­ well, about before, what happened in the cell.¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°I wanted to apologize. I was still half-asleep, and thinking that this was all a dream.¡± For a moment, she sent me a cold glare as her arms moved to cover her chest more protectively. ¡°Don¡¯t talk about that!¡± She hissed out at me. ¡°I¡¯ll let you off the hook this time, since you have your own circumstances, but don¡¯t let it happen again.¡± I raised an eyebrow questioningly. ¡°You make it sound like we¡¯ll be sticking together.¡± Lilith grinned mischievously at me. ¡°Well, you have never been around here before. You helped me escape the prison, so it¡¯s only right that I do what I can to help you for a while. Besides, if I left you on your own, you¡¯d fall down the abyss so fast you¡¯d lose track of what layer you were on.¡± She then looked at me, her smile becoming a bit more stiff. ¡°Why, do you not want me to travel with you?¡± ¡°Ah, no, it¡¯s fine. Just thought you¡¯d want to get as far away from me as you could, is all.¡± She chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°No, you seem to have some interesting secrets. Since I can¡¯t go back home anymore, it¡¯s either go with you, or try to travel by myself. With that being the case, isn¡¯t it better for the two of us to form a party?¡± There was no system prompt at her words, or a change in any way, so I assumed that the party she mentioned was a superficial one, rather than the party system that had been used in the game. ¡°Sure¡­¡± I didn¡¯t honestly need a guide, as I remembered most of the important locations from the game. Then again, the final hidden boss was my party member now, other things might have changed. ¡°So¡­ where should we go first?¡± She asked, standing up and stretching her legs. After a moment, she became aware that she was covered in loose rags, and hastily jumped back to cover herself. ¡°Store. We need clothes.¡± Somewhat amused by her antics, I felt my lips curl into the first real smile I had since I came to this world. ¡°And where do you suppose we¡¯ll get the money for clothes?¡± Really, I would love to get some clothes and armor. I still didn¡¯t really feel motivated, but I felt like being around Lilith was helping. Even if she didn¡¯t know the full story, I had told her what I could for now. Maybe later¡­ maybe later I¡¯ll be able to tell her the rest. She furrowed her dark eyebrows in thought. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to get jobs? But¡­ what could we even do? I mean, you are pretty handy with a weapon, but do you have any other skills?¡± I was just about to say something, when a thought struck me.Equipment Mastery¡­ I hadn¡¯t considered it¡­ but does it consider crafting tools as equipment as well?¡°I¡¯m not sure. My memory is a little fuzzy. Let¡¯s just focus on getting to a town first, and we¡¯ll see what happens from there.¡± Seeing me pulling myself to my feet, a gentle smile appeared on Lilith¡¯s lips for a brief moment. ¡°Good grief, I thought that you were just going to sit there and mope all day. Alright, wise guy, which way do we go?¡± From Lilith¡¯s story before, I had no doubt that she was unfamiliar with the second layer. In all honesty, I wasn¡¯t an expert on it myself. Even though I remembered some key landmarks¡­ They were too dangerous for us right now. ¡°You said it¡¯s possible to journey up through the layers, right?¡± I tried to start a conversation, so that I could ¡®solve¡¯ an issue that hadn¡¯t been mentioned to me yet. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. Most people just go on a smuggling route, because the alternative requires you to beat a gate guardian. Why, wanting to head back to the first layer already?¡± I shook my head definitively at that. ¡°No, but¡­ what happens if you do beat the guardian of the first layer? They call him the Gatekeeper, so he should be guarding one too, right?¡± Lilith nodded her head briefly. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. There¡¯s a legend that defeating the Gatekeeper, and passing through the gate on the first level, will allow you to enter the surface world, the place from which mortals fall.¡± Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. ¡°Wait, how did you even know about the Gatekeeper, or that he was coming back in the prison?¡± Oh crap¡­¡°I¡­ heard the guards talking about it. Some called him the Warden, though?¡± The Gatekeeper was the prison warden for the first layer, so hopefully that should be a believable excuse. Thankfully, Lilith seemed to buy it. ¡°Alright, I guess that makes sense.¡± ¡°Anyways, if people think that they can leave Hell by defeating the Gatekeeper¡­ we should hurry and leave, as soon as possible.¡± This time, it was confusion that spread across her face. ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong?¡± I smiled bitterly as I explained. ¡°Only the strong would want to challenge the Gatekeeper. And¡­ when those strong people are killed by him, where do you suppose they end up?¡± Lilith¡¯s eyes widened as she realized what I meant. In truth, the second layer was the most dangerous layer of the first hundred. The easiest way to progress was typically to go down to the eighth layer, and then work their way up slowly. Lilith nodded her head rapidly. ¡°We need to leave.¡± Immediately, she pulled out her dagger, and I flinched, backing up against the tree. Lilith glanced up at me apologetically. ¡°Grim, I¡¯m sorry, but we have to do this. I can make it as painless as possible, but it¡¯s either this or waiting for some monster to rip us to shreds. We aren¡¯t strong enough to fight here, and we don¡¯t have anything to barter for a smuggling route.¡± My breath was coming in short, quick pants as I watched that dagger. I still didn¡¯t know what had happened to put me here, but I assumed that I died. If I let this happen now, that would be my third death in a single day. ¡°Sorry, Grim¡­ I hope you can forgive me later.¡± She said, closing her eyes as she walked towards me. My hands weakly grabbed at the hilts of my swords, but I couldn¡¯t muster the power to lift them. I could only watch as she approached me, and then slid her dagger between my ribs in one swift motion. The cold feel of the metal, and the stabbing pain lasted for only a moment. I died again¡­ Chapter 2: Death Becomes Me The next time I opened my eyes, I was sitting on a rocky cliff. Lilith was laying beside me, a peaceful expression on her face. It took me a moment to register what happened, before my eyes opened in alarm.She killed me. Without a moment of hesitation¡­ she walked up to me and stabbed me in the heart. This might be a normal matter for her, a resident of this world where death is a form of transportation. However, to me this was serious. Humans generally had one life, and when it ended, everything was over. All of our loves, our past experience, everything vanished in the blink of an eye. Then, how was I supposed to react now? I wanted to trust Lilith, I knew that she only did what was necessary. But, part of me still saw her as the Overlord, as if she were slowly dragging me back down to her domain, one layer at a time. While I was thinking this, I saw Lilith slowly open her eyes, smiling to me. ¡°There, all done now. We should be safe here for a while, right?¡± I wracked my brain for an answer, one that satisfied both her curiosity and my need for secrecy. ¡°It¡­ it should be good enough to find a town, at least.¡± She nodded lightly at my answer, standing up and stretching her arms again before looking out over the cliff to the horizon. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have any insights on where a town could be, huh?¡± She asked sarcastically, obviously considering my previous story and thinking that there was no way I would know where any towns were here. To be honest, I did know the location of a few towns, but they were too far away from the prison for us to travel to. We¡¯d probably die of thirst before reaching that area. More importantly, if the setting was still true, there was an important skill that could be learned on this layer. I could only hope we encountered a teacher. ¡°No, but it shouldn¡¯t be too hard, right?¡± Lilith nodded her head with a smile. ¡°Right. Worst case scenario, we go down a few more layers.¡± She flinched when she said that, looking towards me. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean¡­¡± ¡°No¡­ I understand. Just¡­ give me some time to get used to this, okay?¡± I did my best to offer a reassuring smile, while I struggled to keep my hand from twitching. No matter how much I tried to make myself accept it, or force myself to calm down, there was only so much I could take at once. She nodded in understanding. ¡°Alright. Well, let¡¯s head along this cliff, see if we can find a path down. Maybe we¡¯ll get lucky and meet a caravan or something.¡± With that, the two of us moved along, though I had little hope. While the second floor may be the most dangerous, the third is not far off. After all, in the fights between the strong monsters on the second floor, where would the loser go? It¡¯s not until the eighth layer where things actually calm down, but I didn¡¯t want to mention that logic yet, because I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to handle dying another five times so quickly. Thankfully, there really was a stone path leading down the cliff less than a kilometer from our previous position. I kept my eyes alert for any wandering monsters, still afraid of the dangers while we descended to the dry ground below. Maybe it was our proximity to the prison, but there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone nearby. While we were walking, I tried to make some small talk with Lilith, get information from her that would help me figure out some of the similarities between this world and the game I had played. I even pretended to act surprised when Lilith told me about magic being real. Even though she didn¡¯t seem to have access to the same system menus I did, most of the common terms got through, with a few differences. The special powers that the system classified as Skills in the game, such as Equipment Mastery, were not the same as skills such as tailoring or swordsmanship. Those were known as Proficiencies. Skills were supernatural abilities with some significant effect, such as a unique spell, or in my case automatic full proficiency with every mundane item. From what Lilith had told me, Skills did exist, but they were rare things held by only a few people. Learning a skill required either subduing the current holder, or convincing them to teach it. As for proficiencies, anyone was able to obtain those, and they were not even really tracked. Likewise, statistics such as strength and charm were not organized with a numeric system like they were for me. If you did not meet the requirements to use an ability, all you knew was that you had to improve. As for titles, Lilith did not even understand what I meant when I asked about that, so I could only assume that they were either automatic or nonexistent. My money was on the former, given how I possessed a title of my own. I¡¯d have to figure out how to get more titles later, once I had the power to do so. After taking the steep path down for a little over an hour, the two of us were finally tired enough to take a break. I had somehow managed to earn a point in vitality from that walk, but that did not prevent me from being out of breath the same as Lilith. ¡°Alright¡­ now where?¡± I asked, looking out to the horizon. Aside from the cliff rising behind us, the surrounding area was an entirely flat, dry wasteland. ¡°Working on that¡­¡± Lilith panted out, leaning forward to put her hands on her knees and take deep breaths. Once she had done that, she stood up straight and looked into the distance. ¡°Well¡­ it doesn¡¯t really seem to matter which way we pick. Neither of us have water magic. Honestly, at this point I¡¯d be surprised if we make it anywhere, even if we knew where we were going.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Reluctantly, I had to accept her verdict. If we couldn¡¯t see a city, even from the top of the cliff, that means that there is not one anywhere nearby. It¡¯d probably take days of walking, with no food or water, before we stumbled upon another living creature. Taking a deep breath, I looked over to Lilith. ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°Okay, but which way?¡± She asked, before pausing, turning around again. ¡°Wait, you mean..?¡± Seeing the question in her eyes, I nodded my head. ¡°Are you sure, Grim? We still haven¡¯t been here very long, we might get lucky.¡± I shook my head, we both knew that wouldn¡¯t happen. ¡°We couldn¡¯t see a city from way up there¡­ We don¡¯t even know what direction we should walk in. Best case scenario, we only go one day without food or water. Now come on, before I chicken out and change my mind.¡± I brought my hand behind my back, clenching my fist to hold it steady. Seeing my resolve, Lilith nodded her head. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll make it quick again.¡± She spoke softly, walking towards me with her dagger in hand once again. Seeing that, my mind began to panic again. For a moment, I saw her in her armored appearance as the Overlord, bearing down on me and ready to finish me off. It was all I could do to close my eyes and wait to feel the cold steel pierce my ribs again. Some time later, I awoke with a start, suddenly sitting up. My eyes scanned the area around me, but I could not find any sign of Lilith. I knew that we had moved to the fourth layer, since the barren wasteland had been replaced by an abundant forest.Has she not killed herself yet? Or¡­ did she leave? I wouldn¡¯t have blamed her if she had left, though the thought did pain me. While I was still suspicious of her, and my mind went into a panic whenever she killed me, she was still the closest thing here I had to a friend. Even if I knew it would be temporary, the thought of her suddenly vanishing was a bit much. However, I soon heard her voice from behind me. ¡°Ah, finally woke up! Come on, Grim, I brought some dinner!¡± She cheerfully spoke as she moved out from a patch of trees, carrying an armful of multicolored fruits. ¡°I, uh¡­ I think they¡¯re all edible? I mean, I recognize a few.¡± Unsurprisingly, I was not very hungry, having died so many times. Not simply because death killed the appetite, but because¡­ well, deathdidkill the appetite. If you died from hunger, then if that did not reset, wouldn¡¯t you constantly die until you fell past the final floor? No, hunger and thirst were replenished upon death. Though, I could tell that I was likely sleeping for a while, because I was slightly parched. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, as much for her bringing food as for her coming back. ¡°Don¡¯t suppose you saw traces of civilization while you were out?¡± Surprisingly, Lilith gave a slight nod, smiling. ¡°I saw footprints, humanoid ones. Can¡¯t tell how old they are, but there were a lot of them. Looked like an unmarked path, maybe. Want to take a look when we¡¯re done?¡± I thought about it. Like most floors, this one did have something to offer. While it wasn¡¯t as useful as the Field of Bones skill from the third layer, it was still pretty good. On the fourth floor, there was a gourd of magic water, known as the Bottled Spring. Supposedly, it was the source of vitality and abundance for the entire floor. As for its location¡­ I didn¡¯t know where it was in relation to the prison. It should be a fair distance, but it was worth it if we had the ability. I wasn¡¯t sure if the same held true here, but in Layers of Hell, there was no such thing as a health potion. There were only three ways to recover injuries. You could either use healing magic, wait a long period of time to recover naturally, or die. The Bottled Spring was the closest thing to a healing potion that existed in the game, and it was even one with an unlimited supply. Unfortunately, it had its own guard, and one that was far too strong for beginners like us to handle. I could only make a mental note to come back here if we ever got the chance, and nod idly to Lilith¡¯s former question. ¡°Right. Hopefully we can earn some coin when we get to wherever that path leads, and get some decent clothes.¡± Lilith nodded her head firmly at that last part. ¡°Right!¡± Afterwards, she gave a much smaller nod. ¡°Hopefully, we can stay on this floor a bit longer, since we aren¡¯t lacking for food and water. We even found what might lead to a city.¡± I knew she was saying that for my benefit. In her eyes, I was just a lost soul that panicked every time she approached me with a blade. But, was she really wrong? Aside from my knowledge from Layers of Hell, I was essentially a normal person. I might know how to get around here, but I was still lost, because I didn¡¯t know how I got here, or how to return home. I silently made my resolve, once we got to a city, I would see exactly what I could do. The extent of what could be considered equipment, I would find it. I¡¯d make myself useful, someone that Lilith could rely on, rather than a lost soul that she had to take care of. If I couldn¡¯t do that much, I¡¯d never be able to tell her the truth about what I am, about what I know her as. After a short meal, the two of us got up and began walking through the trees, with me following behind Lilith. Since she had found the path before, I needed her to guide the way back to it. Only then could I take the lead, since I should be able to put up a better fight if anything attacked us. Granted, we¡¯d still probably be killed by anything hostile residing in these woods, but let me have my hero moment, okay? Soon, we did indeed find the tracks, several of them following a slightly worn trail. From there, we picked a direction, and began walking. Which way led to the city, we didn¡¯t know. But¡­ we were putting our money on the direction that took us further away from the prison. As for me walking in front, Lilith only gave an amused grin and allowed it. We both knew that the danger was too high for either of us to be a match for the creatures we would face, but the gesture was important. I still had my pride as a man. That useless, suicidal pride. As we walked, the forest seemed eerily quiet, to the point that we had thought we were going the wrong way, instead walking into the lair of a mighty beast. It wasn¡¯t until our legs had become sore from constantly following the trail did we see signs of life. Well, at one point it had been life, at least. A large wall of wooden stakes stood before us, surrounding a primitive gate. Atop many of the spikes were severed heads, their expressions frozen in horrific gasps. Human, demon, dwarf, elf, as well as many other races were represented among the cruel display. Lilith and I gulped simultaneously, unable to stop from looking at each other. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think they¡¯re friendly.¡± She said with a weak smile. Am I going to die again, already? Chapter 3: Tryhard Diehard It only took a few moments for high pitched, squeaking voices to be heard from the other side of the walls. These were voices I had heard before, and I immediately knew what type of enemies we¡¯d be facing. ¡°Pygmies¡­¡± I muttered under my breath, drawing my twin short swords. Sure enough, the gate burst open a few seconds later, a swarm of shriveled up bodies charging at us with spears held high. Each one was no taller than a single foot, but there were hundreds of the creatures in every village. What they lacked in power, they more than made up for in numbers. ¡°Got a plan, here?¡± Lilith called out, backing up with her knife in a reverse grip. I wasn¡¯t sure if she was planning to fight that way, or use it to stab herself. The first dozen pygmies in the front all threw their tiny spears at us. I could see a faint liquid dripping from the tips, likely indicating that they were poisoned. Wanting nothing more than to stop them, I felt my body move on its own. My arms sliced through the air, swords cutting through several spears with each swing. Of the first wave of spears, none managed to hit their targets. Lilith behind me was staring dumbly as I cut through the attack in midair, but the pygmies were far less impressed. The dozen that threw their spears quickly reached us while the next wave, this one at least fifty, all threw their own poisoned spears I felt my mind empty itself, a single thought rising up, the name of a dual sword skill.Spherical Beheader Stance.My arms moved with a flourish of steel, the tips of the two blades never going beyond half my full reach. With my swings pulled in, I was able to move faster, close most of the gaps so that I would immediately cut through anything that entered my range. Unfortunately, this stance fell under the category of skills that I did not have the stats to properly wield. Of the twelve lunging pygmies, ten were struck down by the quick swings, while the other two managed to latch onto my sides, biting fiercely with their small mouths. Although I felt the pain rampaging through my body, my arms never stopped moving. This stance made me into a protective barrier for anyone behind me. From the fifty or so spears, I had even less of a chance to block them all. I felt eight pierce into me, with six being in the legs and the other two in the chest. I also heard a brief cry from behind me, meaning that Lilith had likely been hit as well.Dammit¡­ no choice! At this point, I had two options. I could let the pygmies slowly devour my flesh, one tiny bite at a time, feeling nearly endless torture before one managed to bite into a key artery, and I bleed out. Or, I could make it quicker. ¡°Lilith¡­ do it.¡± Given the nature of Layers of Hell, it should come as no surprise that every weapon type has a ¡®suicide¡¯ weapon skill. I still felt the tearing pain of the pygmies eating my sides, and if not for my current supernatural skill with these swords I would have likely lost my ability to control my body long ago. As such, I could only rely on calling the skill with my mind, and letting my body do the rest. My swords fluidly moved from their constant flourish, almost as if I was making a mistake in handling them, and came together at my neck from either side. There was a brief instant of pain, but then nothing. The next thing I knew, my eyes were shooting open, one arm lashing out and cutting through a pygmy that had lunged at me. Sitting up, I found the wounds on my body recovered, and naturally my head was back on my shoulders. Lying around me were nearly a dozen pygmies, and one Lilith. I wasted no time moving around, immediately beheading all of the remaining midget monsters. I wouldn¡¯t take any chances that they¡¯d run away and find another settlement near here for reinforcements. Only after that was done did I bother looking at my surroundings. This was the fifth layer of hell, a layer of eternal night. Luminescent plants covered the landscape, like stars dotting the ground. Above was a curtain of pitch black, with not a single trace of true stars being seen. I sat down next to Lilith, waiting for her to wake up from our shared suicide. Thankfully, I woke up before the few pygmies I killed before could do anything to us, otherwise we¡¯d be sent to the sixth layer. If I can find some equipment, I should be able to hold my own in a fight on either this layer or the sixth, but I doubt Lilith can claim the same. What am I even thinking about? Shouldn¡¯t I be focusing on getting out of this mess? How the hell did I even get here, anyways?I looked down to my swords, still coated in blood. How did I so easily accept this? Was it only because I didn¡¯t have a choice? Was I still hoping that I¡¯d be able to slip past the Gatekeeper on the first floor, and go home? I laughed bitterly at that thought. Go home? I couldn¡¯t even handle a pygmy village without having to kill myself. What, then? Die until I reach the 999th floor, and try to fight the new overlord? That¡¯s even less possible. What¡¯s left, just try to live a normal life in Hell? Is there even any hope of me getting back home, after all? As I was asking myself that, I noticed Lilith stirring awake in front of me. ¡°Hrmm¡­ is this the fifth floor?¡± She asked groggily, looking out into the endless darkness. ¡°Yeah. The floor where the sun never rises.¡± I shook my head, standing up and offering her a hand up as well. As she stood, the last remnants of her rags finally gave way, falling to the floor and leaving her entirely exposed.Those pygmies got some lucky hits in¡­ We were frozen like that for several long seconds, both of our eyes slowly drifting downwards. Afterwards, an ear-shattering scream rang through this layer of Hell, and Lilith immediately turned around, crouching down to cover as much of her body with her arms as she could. Though, this only gave me a good view of her perky--¡±You ass!¡± She turned her head to glare at me. ¡°You did that on purpose, didn¡¯t you?!¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°No¡­ not really. Though, I can¡¯t say I don¡¯t like the view.¡± I did my best to avert my eyes, which only seemed to make them linger even longer. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry, we should be able to find something to make more clothes with on this level.¡± Unfortunately, I knew just how right I was. The floor of eternal night held host to a number of nocturnal creatures. Among these, the most common was the Shadow Lurker, a giant arachnid who can become nearly invisible in this level of darkness. However, their silk is extremely valuable, used in making clothing that is durable, flexible, and innately resistant to magic. ¡°Well¡­ if you say so. But you¡¯re walking in front!¡± She glared at me, and I could only helplessly shrug. Reaching down, I grabbed a few of the pygmy spears lying around, figuring they would come in handy later. After all, they are only a little bigger than needles, so maybe I can use them for that? Naturally, I did not have any pockets, so I snapped off the poison tips of the spears to discard, and then stabbed what was left through my own remaining rags. Having an inventory would be really nice here, but even in the game you could only store items like that after getting a bag. That would have to be the next thing I work on, after getting us some better clothes. Walking ahead of Lilith, I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of movement within the darkness. The shadow lurkers blend almost perfectly with the landscape here. So, the only chance to notice one before it attacks would be listening for the small sounds they make, and the off chance that one moves in front of a glowing plant. Due to this, I was keeping completely quiet while I moved, not willing to start a conversation and miss the signs of an approaching attack. Unfortunately, even though having the Equipment Mastery skill seemed to let me react as if I was a master swordsman, and let my body move on instinct alone, it did nothing for my senses. In that respect, I was still only a normal human. So, by the time I noticed that I had walked directly next to one of the very creatures I was looking for, its body had already struck out. There was a clanging sound, as if metal was striking metal. I had barely managed to raise one of my swords in time to stop the surprise attack. ¡°Found you!¡± I called out, and then immediately regretted it. Another aspect of shadow lurkers that I had initially forgotten, they live in swarms. There was a slight clicking noise from all around, as dozens of unseen figures seemed to be standing up. ¡°Oh fuck¡­ Lilith, make sure we take at least five down with us!¡± ¡°Uhm¡­ okay?¡± She responded, her voice shaking. Was this really the same girl that controlled all of Hell? At the moment, I felt like I had been ripped off. Bringing my free sword up, I cut off one of the front claws for the shadow lurker, freeing my second blade. Moving to hold the second blade in a reverse grip, I stabbed it down into the head of the giant spider, causing it to issue out a high-pitched screech.One down. I could hear the skittering of the other creatures as they moved towards us. Without any luminescent plants close enough to use as a light source, we had no way of telling exactly where they were coming from. ¡°Please tell me you¡¯re hiding another trick, Grim¡­ We could really use one right now.¡± It¡¯s funny that she thinks we could get out of this without dying¡­ And really, I would like to, but it didn¡¯t seem realistic right now. A swarm of shadow lurkers always had at least twenty members, if the information was the same as I was used to. And, the only weakness that they have is their reliance on darkness. ¡°Not unless you have a way to brighten things up around here.¡± My current plan was simply to take enough of these creatures out before we die that I can kill them again on the next floor to harvest their silk. The fifth layer is the floor of eternal night, while the sixth is the floor of eternal day. With the shadow lurkers going into hibernation in bright light, they will be easy pickings if we can get them to the next layer. ¡°Light? Uhm.. light, light.¡± I heard Lilith muttering frantically behind me, as I moved to hold both of my swords in a reverse grip. By now, the skittering steps were right before us, so I simply closed my eyes and charged forward.Spiral Star! After activating another dual-wielding skill, I felt my body jump forward, my torso parallel to the ground. Swinging my right arm towards my left side while returning the sword to a normal grip, I began to spin in the air, with one sword stretched out to strike at everything I passed by, and the other held defensively to my chest, in order to block frontal attacks. I¡¯m not sure how many times I felt my sword sink into thick carapace, but I doubted I dealt any fatal blows with such an imprecise attack. However, it did put me where I needed to be, right smack in the middle of a bunch of angry spiders.Blade Dance, Circle of Carnage.I simultaneously activated two weapon skills. The first was a stance, which allowed me to attack enemies from all sides by using constant footwork to eliminate my blind spots. The second skill was an attack designed to go with it, one that caused my right hand to swing up and down, as if I was directing a performance. With each swing of my primary sword, there was another pained screech. Whenever I heard a claw cutting through the air to get to me, my body bent back slightly, my left hand whipping up to sever that claw. Like the Spherical Beheader, this was not a combo that I could properly execute for very long, as the constant movement and precise control was rapidly draining my energy. ¡°Found it!¡± I heard Lilith exclaim happily. ¡°And the lady said, let there be light!¡± There was the sound of steel clashing against stone, and suddenly the area was lit up as bright as day. Well, a green day. From off to my left, after I stopped moving, Lilith was knelt on the ground with her dagger stabbed into a strange root. That root was issuing out a bright glow, which spread to other such roots hidden just along the surface of the ground for over twenty meters. Part of me regretted being able to see. At least when I was blind, I didn¡¯t see the dozens of giant spiders, each as tall as my waist, surrounding me. Talk about nightmare fuel. On the bright side, pun not intended, the spiders all recoiled away from the light. Each one that still survived let out pained screeches, scurrying away as fast as they could. Those that had injuries forgot their rage, their natural weakness to light forcing them to flee. The only shadow lurkers left were those that I had killed, and one that I had somehow managed to cut off every leg but one without dealing a fatal blow. I wasn¡¯t sure if I should be impressed or depressed at that. Still¡­ there were enough for me to make what I needed, if we harvest the silk. ¡°Grim¡­?¡± Lilith said carefully, walking over towards me. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°You have a claw sticking out of your back.¡± She pointed to my back, where I began to notice a dull, warm feeling.When did that get there? ¡°Yeah¡­ well, there are three of you.¡± I retorted, far too dizzy from my constant spin to see straight at this time. ¡°Could you, uh, get this out of me? And maybe see about harvesting some silk from these spiders?¡± Lilith raised a curious eyebrow. ¡°What, you want to make us clothes with their silk? That¡¯s what you meant earlier?¡± ¡°Uhm¡­ no? Coincidence?¡± I averted my eyes guiltily, knowing that I was doing a very poor job of keeping my secrets secret. ¡°Uh huh¡­ and, how do you expect to make clothes out of that stuff?¡± She crossed her arms under her impressive bust, giving her a menacing, yet seductive look with the green lighting coming from the ground below her. ¡°I think I have the skills?¡± I asked, not entirely sure of myself at the moment.It SHOULD work, maybe. I really hope this works. Either way, it should be good for temporary clothes, right? RIGHT? Chapter 4: Sometimes Living is Harder After Lilith pulled the claw out of my back, I gave a pained yelp. Using the last of the rags dangling from my chest, I made a makeshift bandage to cover my wound. While Lilith worked to harvest the silk from the spiders, I was working to whittle down the pygmy spears as far as possible. ¡°So, how did you do that trick with the plant?¡± The dagger was still in the root off to the side, which was still lighting up the area as Lilith retrieved as much silk as she could. ¡°Hmm? Oh, that¡¯s something I learned in the thirteenth layer. I got trapped in a cave for nearly a week, and found this strange root. At first I thought I could cut it open and get some water or nutrients, but as soon as I stabbed it, it lit up like this. I wasn¡¯t sure whether I¡¯d be able to find one here or not, but it was our best bet to not have to go down another layer yet.¡± She offered me a comforting smile as she said that, obviously still wanting to spare me from the rapid deaths. And, I had to silently thank her for that. ¡°I see. Glad that you did, otherwise it might have gotten a bit messy.¡± I let out a dry chuckle, then winced when it caused my wound to flare up with pain. ¡°Okay, note to self, laughing hurts. Would really like some healing magic about now.¡± Lilith grinned dryly as she removed the last of the usable silk from the dead spiders. ¡°Wish I had the chance to learn it before, but magic isn¡¯t exactly a cheap art. You need at least ten thousand sin to hire a teacher, and that¡¯s if you are lucky enough to pick it up in the first lesson.¡± I nodded my head sadly at that. Sin was the currency used in Layers of Hell, and ten thousand was not a small amount. That was enough to pay for two months of rent for a nice house on the tenth layer, if the numbers were the same as I was used to. Looking over, I grimaced at the tangled mess of silk that Lilith had pulled out from the spiders. With a sigh, I held up one of the finest wooden needles I had managed to refine.
Do you wish to equip Lesser Wooden needle?
I smiled slightly, mentally accepting. I wasn¡¯t sure why it asked me this time, rather than simply doing it on its own like when I used my weapons. Either way, once I accepted, I felt a rush of information, and new options appeared in my mind. Ways to use this tiny splinter of a needle as a weapon, or more importantly as a crafting tool. Refine Silk Thread.I really hoped this would work, but as soon as I thought the name for the skill, my hands began moving on their own. Within a few short minutes, I was spinning the thread into a neat spool of thread, rather than the tangled mess. Each spider produced enough wool for several small spools of silk thread, and my hands kept moving with almost unnatural precision as I worked the slick threads. Off to the side, Lilith¡¯s eyes had long ago widened to the point of looking like they were about to fall out. Her mouth was hanging so wide I was afraid a bug would fly into it. Nearly an hour later, I had finished sorting the last of the thread, letting out a sigh of relief. My hands felt numb from the continued work, but I knew that I was just beginning. I didn¡¯t have a loom to turn these into cloths, so the only option I had was to make the clothes by hand.Simple Shirt. Again, my hands began moving by themselves, with abnormal speed and precision. At some point I had picked up a second needle, and lost track of my own movements. For the measurements and design, I naturally pictured Lilith, as this was intended for her. Time passed, and the light from the root began to dim. Lilith, panicking, ran around to find another such root to stab before the shadow lurkers could return. Thankfully, she did find one after only a few minutes of searching, and we had bright light once again! This time, it took me nearly two full hours to make the shirt, and somehow it turned out decently. The glossy black fabric gave it a particular shine, and its size was just right to perfectly fit Lilith. She accepted it carefully, as if it was a divine relic she feared would break under her touch. ¡°W-wow, you really did it. I¡¯m impressed¡­¡± She said with a small smile as she put the shirt on, finding the holes in the back to slip her wings through. It really was just a simple shirt, with sleeves going down halfway to her elbows. ¡°Don¡¯t get too worked up yet, I still need to make you some pants¡­¡± By now, I was out of breath, my hands sore. I had pricked myself with the needles more than once, and had even broken a few needles. They were made of wood, after all. I had to use broken spider legs as the center for the spools, so none of this had been a good day. ¡°Oh¡­ I guess that¡¯s right.¡± She said with a nod. ¡°Something small works. Just so long as it covers everything. Don¡¯t push yourself too much.¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if my display of skill had simply amazed her too much or if she was really showing a softer side. Either way, after letting my fingers stretch for a few minutes, I got back to work. Like she said, something small works. For this, I simply made short shorts, black cloth pants that went halfway down her thighs. This did not take nearly as long as the shirt, but left my fingers feeling equally exhausted.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. After she put it on, I took a moment to look her over and admire my work. Really, black silk clothes on a red skinned girl looked very nice. However, I didn¡¯t think I was ready to try making my own stuff yet. ¡°So¡­ can we get moving, see if we can find a city before we have to go down another layer? Making stuff like this would be much easier if I had proper tools.¡± ¡°O-oh, right!¡± She nodded her head quickly, turning around to look out at the horizon. ¡°Hmm, that way should have one.¡± She pointed off to the distance, where there seemed to be a vague gathering of lights just over the horizon. I smiled, gathering up what was left of the silk. There wasn¡¯t enough here for me to make clothes for me as well as a bag, so I opted to just carry it by hand. ¡°Think you can cut off part of that root to serve as a torch?¡± Lilith blinked at my suggestion, but immediately gave it a shot. Luckily, the root did not lose its glow after being severed, so we were able to carry it with us as a source of light. Which was nice because it kept a lot of the monsters from this layer at bay. Otherwise, with me already limping from a stab wound that I had to devote one hand to in order to apply constant pressure, we never would have made it if we actually had to fight something. Still, the walk took us over six hours, having to stop and find new roots to use as torches four times before we were close enough to that distant light source that the torch was unneeded. What we saw there was a tall wall of stone, and glowing bulbs placed along its base every three meters. Some distance away there was a large gate, which seemed unattended until we arrived closer. Standing on the interior side of the gate were two well armored soldiers. Due to their heads being obstructed, it was hard to tell their exact race. However, what little exposed skin there was appeared to be a very dark grey, so I suspected that they were of the dark elf race. Upon seeing us approach, the two guards stepped forward, lowering their spears to point at us. ¡°Halt!¡± They called out. Naturally, we did not want to argue with two armed soldiers. If I was in top condition, with enough gear, I could probably take them. But, limping with only one usable hand? Not likely. ¡°What is your business here?¡± Likely because she knew that I was not used to life in Hell, Lilith stepped forward to talk. ¡°We just arrived in this layer earlier today, and we were attacked by some spider-like creatures. My friend here was stabbed by one before we managed to kill it.¡± It was at this time that they seemed to notice the clothes she was wearing. ¡°Shadow lurker silk?¡± Lilith was taken aback by her question, but nodded her head. ¡°You must be pretty lucky to manage to get something like that.¡± They then glanced at our weapons, and the rags I was wearing. They looked to each other and nodded, then stepped back to their normal posts. ¡°Just try not to cause any trouble while you are here.¡± We nodded to the guard, and passed through. With this, we were one step closer to getting fully geared up. Now we just needed to find a job. Well, with my crafting ability that shouldn¡¯t be too hard, right? There was still the issue of the stab wound in my back, but let¡¯s take this one problem at a time, okay? I¡¯d like to go just one day without dying, if that¡¯s not too much to ask. ¡°Let¡¯s find a tailor, see if we can trade some of this silk for an actual bandage.¡± Lilith nodded at my suggestion, and we navigated our way through the town. Honestly, after six hours of walking with the wound held closed by my hand and some rags, I was starting to feel light-headed. I was tempted to glance at my status window to see how much health I had lost, but at the same time I was afraid of what I might see. It¡¯d be better to wait until I was properly patched up. Thankfully, the tailor easily agreed to the trade, even insisted on patching me up himself when he saw the wound, and all the dried blood around it. When he heard we had been walking all day like this, he seemed like he might have sewn me up even if I didn¡¯t offer him a couple spools of silk. Nice guy¡­ really wish I could remember his name. But, after we got into town, the rest of the day was a dizzy blur. All I remembered was waking up in a bed in a room I had never seen before. My head was pounding like someone was beating it with a drum, but I at least knew the room wasn¡¯t my own. I never remembered having a glowing bonsai tree, anyways. A few minutes after I woke up, a stone door opposite of the room opened, and Lilith walked in slowly. Seeing that I had sat up, she rushed over to me quickly. ¡°Are you alright, Grim?¡± She asked, a trace of worry in her voice. ¡°Does your head hurt, do you feel sick?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, and¡­ ugh, yes.¡± I said, realizing the growing feeling of nausea in my stomach. ¡°What happened, where are we, and how long was I out?¡± Important questions, Grim. Focus on the important questions. ¡°We¡¯re at Devon¡¯s house. You passed out in his store after he stitched your wound, so he said you could stay here for a bit. You were pretty out of it, you know? You actually told him that you sewed my clothes from scratch with nothing but toothpicks.¡± She grinned wryly at that. ¡°Anyways, he said that you lost a lot of blood, so it will probably take you a few days to get back into top shape.¡± I furrowed my brows, trying to think past the orchestra in my head. ¡°How are we going to pay for this?¡± Lilith chuckled slightly, avoiding eye contact. ¡°Well¡­ I said that you told him you made these clothes, right? He was impressed, and said that once you are better, you can work here for a little while to pay him back.¡± Oh great, just what I needed¡­I reached down and felt my stomach. If I lost a lot of blood, then I need to eat something, right? ¡°Can you get me something to..?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, right! I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Lilith nodded, jumping up from her chair and racing out the door. For the first time, I actually took a moment to look around the room I was staying in. It looked like one portion of a hollow dome, the wall near me curving up towards the ceiling until it abruptly dropped at the wall Lilith had vanished behind. As for decorations, they were sparse. No doubt this was simply a guest room. The most impressive decoration was the glowing bonsai tree next to the circular window. I was tempted to get up and look out the window, but the shooting pain in my back the moment I tried to do more than sit up convinced me that bedrest was a wondrous thing. Soon, Lilith came back with some thin soup, and I began my recovery.Yay, I didn¡¯t have to die this time. Now if only recovering the hard way didn¡¯t suck so much. Chapter 5: Death of Fashion The next few days went¡­ okay, they were slow as hell. I wasn¡¯t allowed to eat anything but soup and some stale black crackers for the entire first day. I didn¡¯t even have much company, because Lilith was busy doing a temporary job of her own. Apparently, she had the choice between working as a waitress at a nearby restaurant, or as a saleswoman for the tailor that was housing her. I think it might have been because of a desire to repay him, but Lilith agreed to work as a saleswoman. When she came to show me her uniform, I couldn¡¯t help but stare. He actually put the dangerously seductive demoness in a frilly maid uniform, with thigh high socks that stopped just below the bottom of the skirt. This man is evil, truly evil. While I was recovering on the second day, I decided to finally check my status. I knew my health wouldn¡¯t be fully recovered, but I had hoped that I would have earned some experience from fighting all those shadow lurkers.
Name: Grim Styles Level: 3 Race: Human Class: None
Strength: 21 Vitality: 20 Dexterity: 20 Health: 24%
Wisdom: 18 Intelligence: 19 Luck: 13 Magic: 100%
Points Remaining - 2
Titles
Conqueror of Hell +10 all stats
Skills
Equipment Mastery 100% proficiency will all equipment, and the ability to use all nonmagical equipment-related skills. Ability to identify equipment.
I couldn¡¯t help grumbling when I saw just how low my health was. Why couldn¡¯t I be like a cheat game character, and recover from near death in under a minute? Layers of Hell, sadly, had real recovery times unless you either died or used healing magic. Speaking of which, I wanted to ask about that the next time--ah, there he is. As I heard the door open, I saw a man enter. Like the guards we had first seen at the gate, he was a dark elf, with dark gray skin, silver hair, and pitch black eyes. His hair was long, almost down to his waist, and his body slim and feminine. If not for his low voice, it¡¯d be possible to mistake him for a woman. ¡°So, how¡¯s my patient doing?¡± Drezon asked, moving in to check if I had a fever. After placing his hand against my forehead, he nodded slightly to himself. ¡°Almost suggested to your friend to just put you out of your misery and have you try your luck on the next floor down. She didn¡¯t really think that was such a good idea, though.¡± I gave a bitter smile, nodding my head. ¡°Thanks. Hope I¡¯m not any trouble.¡± Drezon grinned mischievously. ¡°Oh, please be more trouble. That way I¡¯ll be able to work you harder when you are able to move around.¡± I felt my eye twitch at that comment. ¡°Right¡­ speaking of which, is there anyone in this city able to teach magic?¡± Drezon lowered his head in thought for a few moments when I asked that. ¡°Well, there are a few people that can use it, but I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re taking any students. Even if they were, you definitely can¡¯t afford it right now.¡± I nodded my head slightly. ¡°I know, but I was hoping that you could help me with that.¡± This time, it was his turn to be taken aback. ¡°If you can bring me some cloth, a portable loom, and a few tools, I should be able to work from here. Figure, if I make something nice that sells, can earn a part of the money?¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. He paused for a few moments, before laughing loudly, clutching his stomach. ¡°Oh, I think that would work fine. You said you made your friend¡¯s clothes from shadow lurker silk with nothing but a pair of toothpicks? I¡¯m eager to see what you can make when you have the proper tools.¡± With that, he turned and left, and I slowly began to grow nervous. I had a theory for how the Equipment Mastery skill worked, but I was not positive. I would need to do a couple more tests to be sure, and this was one of them. A few minutes later, he returned with a big cloth bag, setting it on a chair beside my bag. ¡°Should have everything you need in there. Went ahead and included the rest of that silk you showed up with. Figured you probably want to make something for yourself to wear, aside from those rags you came in with.¡± I offered a nod of thanks, and he turned to leave the room. Reaching over, I opened the bag and retrieved the loom, or the pieces of it. As if guided by an unseen hand, I quickly began assembling it in my lap, my hands moving as if this were second nature. Within a minute I had a fully assembled loom, and that same prompt as before. The loom itself took up the entirety of my lap, but it was not too big to be manageable.
Do you wish to equip Portable Loom?
I nodded my head slightly, and felt the familiar rush of skill knowledge. Reaching into the bag, I pulled out two of the spools of silk thread.Refine Silk Cloth.Again, my hands began moving on their own, working the thread through the loom to quickly turn it into cloths. When that was done, they moved into the bag to fish out more thread, repeating this process until I had turned all of the silk threads into cloth. With that out of the way, I grabbed the sewing needles and scissors from the bag, and set to work creating myself some pants. Pants would be nice, and I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever worn silk pants before. Anyways, now that I had proper tools, the process only took me a few minutes, rather than an hour or two, before I had a full pair of glossy black pants. Next was a shirt, though again, tools really make the job easier. Ten minutes later, I was done with it, and had my new clothes ready. Sadly, there wasn¡¯t enough silk left to make underwear for either myself or Lilith, but we could make do for now. I¡¯d make us some underwear with the extra material from Drezon after we paid him back for letting me stay here. Before I got working on making more clothes for him to sell, I used my Equipment Mastery to identify the clothes I had just made for myself.
Silk Shirt +2
Damage: 0%
Special Options: Lesser Magic Resist
Silk Pants +2
Damage: 0%
Special Options: Lesser Magic Resist
I smiled in satisfaction when I saw the +2 attached to each of the items. Another thing that you wouldn¡¯t find in Layers of Hell, aside from health potions, was item enchanting. This made the magic items spread out through the various floors even more valuable, because it was impossible to make your own. Although crafting would let you get bonuses like this, or the +1 on the axe I found in the tutorial, those were simply marks for how well crafted an object was. With my unique skill, I should be able to pull out the full potential for the materials and tools I use. As such, a +2 should be the highest that shadow lurker silk clothes can get when made with standard tools. When I had played through the game before, I acquired an enchanted crafting hammer, and after working with dragon scales and mithril ore below the eight hundredth level, I managed to make myself a +8 sword. However, that was the highest I had ever reached. There was a theory on the forums for Layers of Hell, that if you managed to make a +10 item, it would become an artifact, similar to the greater items you can find throughout the game. Sadly, nobody had been able to confirm whether it was true or not, as the highest anyone had managed to get was a +9 item. Maybe actually being here, with the Equipment Mastery skill, I¡¯ll eventually be able to make something of the highest level?I thought to myself with a smile, before starting to work on the clothes for Drezon. Included with the normal cloths of various colors were spools of glowing threads. For a layer like this, it was common to find clothes that had glowing designs, so I did my best to work those in. The first thing I made was a long, red dress, fit for a woman of a slim build, just under five and a half feet tall. It only had one shoulder strap, the other side coming down to give a teasing view of her upper chest. The cut in the back went almost all the way down the back, while the one in the front only went a few inches below the collar. For the glowing thread, I wove it in patterns which almost seemed to move as you looked at them. Of course, this was only an optical illusion based on the placement of the threads, but I was sure it would be popular. After that piece, I began making similar dresses of various colors, and then had to call Drezon back up to bring me more cloth to work with. He seemed impressed when he saw the dresses, taking them back with him to display while I got back to work. The next set of items I wanted to work on was for men, though for these I was notably less motivated. I mean, if I was making these specifically for someone, it would be easy to come up with cool designs. However, when you are making general clothes, you just have to hope that either someone comes along who they fit, or someone likes them enough to ask for a special commission. Naturally, I was hoping that there would be beautiful women coming by to commission some more dresses if they sold well, but it was hard to get excited about staring at a guy and trying to think what he would look good in. As such, I made simple suits, modeled after tuxedos with long coat tails hanging down from the back. Though, I had to have buttons sent up to finish them, but it was still better than nothing. On the fourth day, my health had increased to 55%, and I was finally able to get out of bed without feeling like my back would split open. Thanks to that, I walked around the house, soon discovering that the shop Drezon ran was actually on the first floor of his house, with a few bedrooms being upstairs.Guess I should get this over with¡­I muttered to myself, waiting until nobody was around to walk over to the large loom in the back room. Placing my hand on it, I focused to try and equip it, waiting for that rush of knowledge I had grown accustomed to. However, such information never came to me. I was no more able to use the loom before I touched it than I was back when I was alive. This confirmed my suspicions for how the skill registered an item as equipment. Most importantly, an item could only be considered equipment if it was something I was capable of carrying on my person. A portable loom was acceptable in this case, but a full sized one wouldn¡¯t work. This likely meant that I wouldn¡¯t be able to use this skill for help with blacksmithing, as I highly doubted there was a portable forge I could get anywhere. Next, the item had to have some purpose, beyond simply being there. For instance, the rags that I started with in the prison did not qualify as equipment, because they offered no defense or utility powers. However, the clothes I crafted from the shadow lurker silk did, because they offered low defense and magic resistance. This made them the equivalent of light armor, which meant that after I put them on I became able to use the various light armor skills concerning the legs and torso. I couldn¡¯t be sure if there were other hidden conditions, but at least I figured this out before anyone asked me to demonstrate on this big loom, or I offered to do so in order to speed things up. I¡¯d rather take the extra time to use the smaller, portable loom than make a fool of myself. Besides, it seemed like I should still be able to make quality items even with the smaller set. Chapter 6: Death and Taxes For the next few days, my services were in rather¡­ high demand. According to Drezon, the first batch of dresses I pushed out were surprisingly popular, and several customers who weren¡¯t the right size for them asked for custom orders. Even some who did fit and bought the originals asked if they could get particular designs. Sadly, looking at women to design outfits was not as exciting as I would have hoped. In my head, I had imagined them standing there naked for me to measure them. Instead¡­ they had Drezon take their measurements, which he passed on to me. I felt like my dreams had been crushed, but I did the work regardless. The suits sold, too, but they weren¡¯t nearly as popular. As is the norm in the world I came from, women were a lot more interested in their fashion than men were. Though, thanks to this I was able to get shoes for myself and Lilith. Shoes might not seem important to most people, but when you had to walk for six hours across a rough landscape where you couldn¡¯t see three feet in front of you, shoes were a godsend. More importantly, though, I was able to make more money than I had hoped. Because the dresses were in such high demand, each one sold for a thousand sin. With me earning half the money, it took me less than a week to get enough to send Lilith to one of the mages in town. She was overjoyed when she heard that, and actually gave me a kiss that lasted longer than I knew I could hold my breath. Of course, she was embarrassed about that, and made me promise never to mention it again¡­ ¡°Why don¡¯t you take the lessons yourself? I mean, you need it just as much as I do, don¡¯t you?¡± She asked, her face still darker than her normal shade of red. ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯ve been wanting this longer. Besides, if you study well enough, you can teach me. That way, we won¡¯t have to save up so much money again.¡± Lilith nodded her head quickly with that explanation. Though, there was a bit more to it than that, because I wanted to have her test something for me. The mage in Darknorth, the name of the town we found ourselves in, was a shadow mage. Now, this didn¡¯t quite fit with the information I had, and I thought it¡¯d be better to learn through Lilith, who wouldn¡¯t be as experienced as a professional. In Layers of Hell, magic was not as firmly separated into classes as this. Sure, there was shadow magic and water magic, but they were all branching paths that could be learned from the basic magic proficiency. Furthermore, I needed to focus on something myself. I had put off getting a class until now, for multiple reasons. In the game, you could choose your class at any time, but resetting it was a pain and a half. And, many classes required you to have certain abilities. For instance, the character that I beat the game with previously was a Dark Knight. That class required a high degree of mastery with the sword, heavy armor, as well as shadow magic and necromancy. It could be considered one of the more overpowered classes in the game. Now, a class was not necessarily required, but it did provide certain options. Each class had a single ability that would be unique to that class. For the Dark Knight, it was the shadow poison, a mix of shadow magic and necromancy that could be cast onto a weapon, and deal heavy damage over time. The problem was, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to get that class again. Realistically, magic should not be so easy to understand that I can quickly build up the skills needed in time for it to prove helpful. So, I had a debate with myself. Should I pick a class now, or wait to see what happens later? If everything goes okay, once we hit the eighth or ninth floors, we should be able to settle. Lilith might want to head off to do her own thing once I¡¯m taken care of, but there won¡¯t be a need for me to battle anymore. On the other hand, a class might help me get to that point. Even now, with the Equipment Mastery skill, I qualified for a large number of classes. But¡­ I did not think that I needed to get a class immediately. If I settle on one of the next few floors, I can get a crafting class or something. But, I should wait until it¡¯s actually relevant. Lilith didn¡¯t come by until a full day after we sent her for the lesson, so I spent that time making more and more dresses for Drezon to sell. When she did get back, I could tell from the broad smile on her face that it had worked. This idea was further reinforced when she ran up to me in the back room, and picked me up in a powerful hug, yelling ¡°It worked!¡± I involuntarily coughed from the sudden hug attack. ¡°Back still hurts.¡± Lilith let out an apologetic noise and set me back down. ¡°So, you¡¯ve got shadow magic now?¡± When I asked her that, she furrowed her brows. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ve got magic. But I don¡¯t really know what I want to do with it.¡± She explained. ¡°According to what my teacher said, everyone has their own path of magic. My magic won¡¯t be used to its fullest unless I make my own path.¡± That sounded more like what I had hoped for. If we needed to pay for a lesson every time that we wanted to learn a new branch of magic, we¡¯d never get done. ¡°Does your path include healing? Because, and this is just me, but I really hope your path includes healing.¡± I gave a light chuckle, followed by a wince as I remembered that humor hurt.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Oh! Right, well, I can try?¡± She said with a strained smile. ¡°You alright with a total novice working on you?¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t turn me into a toad, please.¡± She looked confused at my comment, so I just shrugged, pulling my shirt off to show her the wound. It had mostly healed over the last week or so, but it was still a pain. ¡°If it doesn¡¯t work, there¡¯s always plan B.¡± ¡°What¡¯s plan B?¡± She asked with a worried tone as she moved behind me. ¡°Well, we¡¯re going to need to go to the next layer sooner or later. This one is still pretty deep in the danger zone.¡± ¡°Ohh¡­¡± She seemed to have a hint of sadness in her voice. ¡°What floor do you think it should be safe in, then?¡± ¡°Judging by how the monsters have been on this floor and the last one, I think if we head down to the eighth floor it should be good for people to live in safely. Just a rough estimate, but I feel like it should be right.¡± I couldn¡¯t hear any response from her for a while, but soon a gentle warmth spread out through my back. I opened my status window, and watched as the last portion of my health recovered. I couldn¡¯t help but smile, and was just about to say something when Lilith spoke up. ¡°Hey, what do you want to do? After we get to a safe area, I mean.¡± Okay, so I froze up when she asked that, I couldn¡¯t help it. This was something I had just been thinking about myself, and I wasn¡¯t sure how she¡¯d take it. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a fighter¡­ If I find somewhere safe, I want to settle down. This may be Hell, but who says it has to suck, right?¡± I had the vague feeling that she nodded behind me. ¡°Yeah¡­ that makes sense.¡± ¡°What about you? What are you going to do? You said that you wanted to show me around since I got you out of that prison.¡± I turned back to look at her, but she had her head held down. After a moment, she lifted her head back up and gave me a sad smile. ¡°Well, I suppose I¡¯ll just have to find something. I¡¯m not the type to just settle down so easily. Who knows, maybe I¡¯ll find an adventure of my own to get into?¡± I immediately regretted my answer, but couldn¡¯t think of anything to say to help. Putting my shirt back on, I held her hand and smiled to her. ¡°Want to go tell him we¡¯re leaving?¡± Lilith giggled, nodding her head. ¡°I think he¡¯d like that. The old guy¡¯s pretty friendly when you sit down and talk with him.¡± I wouldn¡¯t know, that wasn¡¯t really anything we did much. I mean, he brought me measurements and supplies, and I was his manufacturing line. Either way, I nodded my head, and the two of us went down to say goodbye to Drezon after grabbing our equipment. However, before we ¡®left¡¯, he did something that completely caught me by surprise. He pulled a bag of coins from under the sales counter and handed it to me. ¡°Uhm.. you want me to have this?¡± I asked, confused. As far as I knew, this should be everything he had. Just the weight alone told me that it was a massive amount of sin. ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll be getting it back off your body when you go. Just figured it¡¯d help out on the next layer.¡± At that comment, I felt as if I had been struck by lightning.Of course!This was the most obvious exploit in a game like Layers of Hell. If you can pick up the equipment off of dead people, but those dead people keep their equipment when they die, then doesn¡¯t that mean that everything is copied? There had been theories about that on forums for Layers of Hell, but it always took so long to get back to where they died after going through and beating the boss of a layer that people assumed the exploit was impossible. But, if the items were simply taken off your body after you died, of course you wouldn¡¯t find them. ¡°But, wait. Doesn¡¯t that mean the economy will exponentially inflate the further down we go?¡± Drezon nodded his head at that. ¡°That¡¯s true. Figure ten floors down, this¡¯ll only be worth a tenth of what it is now. Still, no harm to me, and it¡¯ll help you out later.¡± I lowered my head for a moment, nodding. ¡°Thanks¡­ I appreciate this, really.¡± Afterwards, I turned my head to Lilith, and gave another nod. I heard her unsheathing her knife, and felt a cold prick on the back of my neck. What seemed like only a moment later, I woke up. This time, I was on a wide grassland, with not a tree or a soul in sight. The only presence was Lilith, who was gradually waking up next to me. In her arms, she held a similar large bag of coins that I did. Most likely, she killed me, took the bag off my body, then killed herself. That felt like even more of a cheat than what I first thought. ¡°Morning.¡± She said to me, still groggy from waking up. ¡°You want to go again, or wait a bit?¡± This was the sixth layer now, the layer of eternal day. Still two more to go before we were really safe. ¡°Well¡­ there¡¯s not a city anywhere in sight. How about we just relax for a minute first?¡± She nodded her head with a small smile after I said that, laying back down against the grass. Honestly, I was just not looking forward to the next layer in the slightest. The real reason that the eight level was the safest wasn¡¯t just because of the monsters tapering down, but because the environment of the seventh level made it almost uninhabitable. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± I said after a few minutes of relaxing. I felt her place the bag of money in my hands, and laughed. ¡°Really, Lilith? How are we going to keep carrying these if we double them at every layer?¡± I opened my eyes to see Lilith with a sheepish grin. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t think about that. Anyways, you sure about this?¡± When I nodded my head, she pulled her dagger out, and I closed my eyes one more time.This is going to suck. The next thing I knew, my body felt heavy. I was waking up again, but not in the normal way. I had been shocked away, and felt my entire body struggling to move. The seventh layer, commonly known as the River Styx. The entire layer of hell was one big water environment. My lungs felt like they were on fire, and I turned my head to see Lilith appear next to me, the space rippling as she arrived. It seemed like I had woken up only seconds after being brought here, but now it was ending all over again. I accidentally breathed in some water, my lungs starving for oxygen, and almost vomited it back up instantly. Have I mentioned that one of my greatest fears is drowning? The pain you go through prior to it, don¡¯t let anyone tell you that it¡¯s an easy death. My vision grew dark, and I felt myself once again pass into oblivion.At least this time, it¡¯ll be a nice layer.That was the only thought I could come up with before everything went black. Chapter 7: Death of a Dream I opened my eyes quickly, sitting up and panting roughly. My whole body was still soaked, my clothes still wet from the seventh layer. I turned over onto my side and coughed a few times, spitting up the last of the water that stayed in me after dying. To my side, I saw Lilith lying there, unmoving. At first, I thought she might have died from that residual water, but then she launched upwards with a gasp in the same way that I had. ¡°Fuck!¡± She called out. ¡°Why¡¯d it have to be an ocean floor?¡± I let myself cough a few more times, making sure that I had gotten it all out. ¡°Could have been worse¡­ if it was a lava floor, we wouldn¡¯t have even kept our equipment.¡± Her face paled at that, as the implications set in. ¡°Right¡­ Anyways, that should make this the eighth floor, right?¡± Lilith slowly pushed herself to her feet and looked around. With the moon high in the sky, it appeared to be night time. Though, this was a natural night, versus what was seen on the fifth layer. In the distance, we could even make out a small city. And, between us and the city were this layer¡¯s monsters, which we were thankfully able to see fairly clearly. The monsters of the eighth through tenth layers more closely resembled natural animals. In this case, wolves. Although they were a bit larger than normal wolves, they were still easily something that we could handle, now that we had everything we needed. ¡°Well, shall we go meet the locals?¡± I asked with a dry smile as I got to my feet, pulling the unused longsword out of its sheath. Lilith nodded with an absent smile, looking off into the distance as we walked forward. Before we made it half way, two of the large, white wolves noticed us and gave a howl as they charged. Thankfully, they were not able to catch us off guard like the shadow lurkers, or this could be an entirely different fight. As it stands, I was more than enough to handle them. Now that I had a full set of equipment, I could use the Equipment Mastery skill to use the full range of movement techniques available for the light armor category. As I approached the first of the two charging wolves, my body began to sway slowly from left to right. When I came back to the left, the wolf lunged at me. Just slightly, my body sped up, leaning further to the left while my sword arm came up in a flash, allowing me to dodge the claws of the wolf while cutting into its neck. Afterwards, I finished my spin and fell into that same slow walking stance. Behind me, I heard the loud thud of the wolf¡¯s body crashing and sliding against the ground. This was something known as the Lazy Counter stance. As long as I stayed moving, even just in this slow, steady rhythm, I could quickly bring my arm up to attack while the enemy tried to take advantage of me appearing off guard. Though really, I just chose it because of the name. Once the second wolf closed in, I dealt with it the same way as the first, and we continued moving as we had before. Lilith didn¡¯t bother mentioning a single thing about the fight, which worried me a bit. But then, after we got to the town, I might not see her again. The awkward atmosphere lasted until we reached the town, and we saw a mixed group of people walking around inside. Among them were elves, humans, even beastmen happily doing business with each other. Unlike the fifth layer, the town here did not have a strict guard, rather a single soldier on duty that allowed us entrance without even stopping us for a moment. Once inside, I felt a small hand tugging on the back of my shirt. When I turned around, I saw Lilith, her face lowered. ¡°I guess¡­ this is where we part ways, huh?¡± She asked, not meeting my eyes. ¡°Well, you could stay with me if you wanted, you know?¡± I did my best to offer a comforting smile, but she still did not even look at me. Nonetheless, I saw her lips curve up slightly. ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t think that would work out.¡± Finally, she lifted her head to look at me. I could tell that she didn¡¯t want to leave, but something was stopping her from staying, as well. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll see you around some day?¡± I nodded, reaching out and pulling her into a tight hug. ¡°Definitely. This is hell, after all. You really think you could get rid of me easily?¡± She gave a dry laugh at that, not offering another comment. She simply wrapped her arms around me, holding me for a few long moments before letting go. Without letting me see her face, she turned around and walked off. She wasn¡¯t moving in the direction to leave the city, so I guessed she wanted to get supplies first. Either way, it was hard to watch her walk off like that. Once she was out of sight, I shook my head slightly and began walking my own way.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. For the next couple of hours, I talked with the various residents, looking for somewhere that I could find a place to live. I had the money from Drezon, so I should be able to afford my own house, or so I thought. However, there didn¡¯t seem to be any vacancies. Rather, there were too many people here already, and not enough homes to put them all in. As I was walking around, a woman with blonde hair and cat ears approached me. ¡°Nya? Are you looking for something?¡± She asked in a cute voice, her arms behind her back. ¡°Uhm, yeah. I was looking for a place to stay. But, it seems like there¡¯s not any houses up for sale around here.¡± I said with a somewhat bitter smile. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She brought one clawed finger up to her chin. ¡°Well¡­ Maybe I could help? I know my way around, nya? Maybe I could help you find an inn to stay at?¡± ¡°Thanks, that¡¯d be a huge help.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°I¡¯m Grim, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Belinda~!¡± She called out, abruptly turning around to lead the way. ¡°Come on, this way!¡± She ran out down the street, her tail swaying behind her. I could only chuckle slightly, moving along with her and trying to keep pace. She was a very energetic girl, and seemed friendly enough. For another hour or so, we went around and talked to various innkeepers. Although they were reserved around me, seeing Belinda seemed to ease their mood a bit. Though, that did not change the fact that there were no rooms available. We were just on our way to the last inn in town, when I saw him. Someone who should not have possibly been here,couldnot possibly be here. Someone that I knew died over a year ago, before the Layers of Hell game even came out. Sitting outside a small restaurant, holding a tin cup out in front of him to get enough money for a meal, I saw a boy in his late teens. He couldn¡¯t have been older than seventeen, with a completely shaved head. I knew who he was, I was at his funeral. My cousin, Kevin Blake. He died of leukemia just after his sixteenth birthday. I¡¯d never be able to forget his face. I felt like a puppet with my strings cut when I saw him. So many things seemed to be falling into place, things I hadn¡¯t even considered before. But first, I had to be sure. He wouldn¡¯t recognize me as Grim Styles, but I had to make sure it was him. ¡°Hmm? Grim, everything alright?¡± I heard Belinda call out from behind me. Slowly, with an almost mechanical step, I walked over to the man whose bed I sat beside for over a year while he went through chemo, his condition getting worse with every day. I could still remember him smiling bravely to his parents, telling them that everything would be okay, that he was just one more round from getting better. Always just one more. ¡°Grim?¡± She called again, this time her voice laced with confusion. Part of me wanted to turn around and run away, leave this town and pretend I didn¡¯t see anything. But, my feet would only bring me closer to him. ¡°Hello¡­¡± I said to him, not even aware how long I had been standing there before I spoke. At some point, Belinda had walked over to stand next to me, looking curiously between me and the beggar. He turned his eyes to look at me, those same eyes that had held such warmth in life, even when he was on his deathbed. Now, they just seemed empty, as if he had held onto the hope of a better place until the bitter end, only to wind up in this hell of endless death, where he had to beg on the side of a dirt street for enough coin to feed himself. ¡°Do you know him?¡± The catgirl next to me asked, but again I couldn¡¯t muster up the energy to answer her. I reached into the bag I had been given, pulling out a fistful of coins without even bothering to count them. I simply dropped them into the tin cup he had in his hands. ¡°Can you tell me your name, kid?¡± I heard Belinda give a small gasp in surprise as she saw the amount of coins I had taken out. I was hoping, praying for him to say anything except for what he did. His eyes widened when he saw the amount of coins in his cup, and it took him some time to register my question. But when he did, he confirmed my worst fears. ¡°I-I¡¯m Kevin, sir. Is there a problem?¡± At that moment, I felt like something inside of me had broken. I couldn¡¯t speak, and only shook my head before turning to leave. I barely heard him calling out his thanks from behind me before rushing into the store.Why¡­ why this? If he was here¡­ if this wasreallyhell¡­ ifLayers of Hellwas real¡­ I remembered back to the storyline that I had discovered, that led me to the 999th layer. If this was all real¡­ ¡°Grim? Something wrong?¡± The words of the girl that had been showing me around town registered as I was backing away from Kevin. I couldn¡¯t be sure what expression I was making at the time. My mind was flashing through all of the information I had acquired in Layers of Hell, how it all had almost perfectly lined up. And, more importantly, what the rest of the information I knew meant. ¡°Grim? Where are you going?¡± I barely even heard Belinda¡¯s voice as I turned, fleeing the scene in a mad dash.I can¡¯t let that happen.I had almost thrown away my life and the people I cared for before coming here, but now, now they were in danger. How could I just stay here and do nothing? How could I casually live my life, knowing that everyone I knew might be subjected to that level of pain and cruelty. So I ran. All through the town I ran, asking questions. I found the same people I had talked to earlier about finding a home, and I asked them if they had seen anyone matching Lilith¡¯s description. It didn¡¯t take long to learn that she had left town just a short while before. So, I ran again. This time, I left town as fast as I could in the direction she left. The landscape here was fairly flat, so I was able to see her shortly after I left the walls of the town. Chapter 8: In Confidence ¡°Lilith!¡± I called out loudly, watching as she stopped dead in her tracks, slowly turning around to face me. As she saw me running towards her, her expression became one of surprise, her eyes widening and her hand rising to cover her mouth. However, her expression became more concerned when she saw me getting closer. I wasn¡¯t sure what expression I was making, but I knew it couldn¡¯t have been good. Not after what I saw. What I suspected to be true. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Grim? Did something happen?¡± She asked hesitantly. It took me a few moments to catch my breath, mustering the courage to speak. I had to tell her. Either I was right, and we had to do this together, or I was wrong and none of it would matter anyways. She was the only variable from the game that was different. The final boss that I encountered far too soon. ¡°Something¡­ something is wrong here¡­ I have to tell you.¡± I was panting for breath as I spoke, having run far too hard in order to catch her before she disappeared. ¡°What is it, Grim?¡± I could tell that she wasn¡¯t really understanding me, so I decided to explain from the beginning. I told her everything. What I was like when I was alive, how confused I was when I suddenly came to Hell¡­ And most importantly of all, I told her about the game, the Layers of Hell. I told her how I thought it was just a coincidence before, or some fever dream. ¡°What changed your mind?¡± She asked, an eyebrow raised. I could tell that she was curious, but that question was asked with a mix of amusement and annoyance. Perhaps, she might not have enjoyed learning that I thought she wasn¡¯t real. ¡°I saw someone¡­ someone I knew. A cancer patient. He shouldn¡¯t be here¡­¡± ¡°Grim¡­ everyone comes here eventually.¡± Lilith spoke softly, shaking her head. ¡°Everybody dies. It¡¯s only a matter of dying well.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh dryly at that. ¡°Well, I was hoping for someone like him to go to Heaven. He¡¯s a good kid.¡± Lilith¡¯s face cramped up slightly when I mentioned Heaven, but maybe that is to be expected of a demoness. ¡°And, you said I was supposed to be the final boss? Some uber powerful sorceress rallying gods and devils to attack Earth?¡± She asked, changing the subject. ¡°Yeah¡­ I don¡¯t know why that changed¡­ why you were in the cell instead. Normally, there should have just been a random NPC there. I should never have seen you until the final battle.¡± ¡°So¡­ maybe things aren¡¯t how they were in that game?¡± She asked hopefully. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m right here, and I really don¡¯t plan on destroying the Earth.¡± I could only shake my head at that. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ The first clue that I found wasn¡¯t until floor 251. But¡­ if there is someone in that role, I can¡¯t just do nothing. This all just makes too little sense. Because of that game, I¡¯ve known what every floor was like before we even got to it.¡± Lilith nodded her head in agreement. ¡°I¡¯m not saying we do nothing. If it¡¯s getting to the floor, it¡¯s nothing really difficult for us, is it? I mean, we just have to die a whole bunch¡­ But why didn¡¯t you tell me any of this sooner? Or warn me when we were about to get into a dangerous area?¡± I looked up and saw her looking somewhat accusingly at me. I couldn¡¯t blame her, really. I basically just told her I let her drown to death without warning her on purpose. ¡°I couldn¡¯t, or, I didn¡¯t think I could. I mean, why would you believe me? I¡¯m just some human that only came to hell recently. What would make you believe me if I told you that there was a giant plot to destroy the living world?¡± Not to mention that I wasn¡¯t entirely sure myself that any of this was even real. Lilith¡¯s face softened, and she let out a brief sigh. ¡°You idiot. I¡¯ve seen you fighting in almost inhuman ways since the moment I met you, and you really think I didn¡¯t consider something was strange? Now, granted, I didn¡¯t think it would be at this level of strange, but still. I mean really, who else could possibly turn silk thread into cloth without a loom, using only toothpicks? And, you said this is all from that¡­ what did you call it?¡± ¡°Equipment Mastery¡­ it was a skill from the game, one you can learn on the 533rd floor from the ¡®Master of all Things¡¯.¡± Suddenly, I heard Lilith start laughing, and I looked up to see her holding her stomach with one hand. ¡°Really, he has a title like that? No wonder he¡¯s so far down, he was probably too embarrassed to come up higher.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­ not mad?¡± I looked dumbly at her, having expected her to insult me or hit me or do more than just call me an idiot once. ¡°Huh?¡± She looked confused at the question. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m mad. I¡¯m not letting you off the hook that easily. But, if what you¡¯re saying is right, there is an adventure to be had, and the end of the world as we know it to prevent, right?¡± I nodded my head slightly. ¡°Then, what are we waiting for? You¡¯re some expert or something, so I expect you to pull your own weight from now on.¡± Lilith stood up after that, smiling to me with one hand extended. I felt my eyes starting to water up again at the trust she showed. I grabbed that hand, grasping it firmly on my own. ¡°Oh, shut off the waterworks already. We have a world to save, don¡¯t we?¡± I nodded my head slightly, wiping my eyes. There really was too much that needed to be done. I couldn¡¯t put this off anymore. We were really going to try to overthrow Hell, and to do that I¡¯d need more power than what I had now. Opening the class selection window, I looked through for a class that could help me get through this. I didn¡¯t look for survivability, because I knew I still had to die hundreds of times before we got where we were going. Even if I used every smuggling route I knew, I couldn¡¯t avoid that. I looked for power, sheer unrivaled power. I¡¯d be fine with being the ultimate glass cannon. And, that¡¯s when I saw a class I had never encountered before. One that I hadn¡¯t seen mentioned in either the game, or in the Layers of Hell forums. Its requirements were truly obscene for a new class, so it¡¯s unsurprising that nobody knew about it.
Living Armory If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.The Living Armory can store and retrieve any item they can carry in their own personal storage space. If their magic proficiency is high enough, they can brand items with their personal mark, and control them even without the need for their hands. Requirements: Equipment Mastery
This, this was exactly what I needed. A class that perfectly complimented Equipment Mastery, and would let me bring out its full potential. Without a second thought, I chose to become a Living Armory.
Do you wish to select Living Armory as your class?
I nodded my head slightly, confirming the decision. I felt my body stiffen, my muscles thickening slightly as my stats were increased thanks to choosing a class. As soon as the sensation passed, I opened my status window to see what had changed.
Name: Grim Styles Level: 1 Race: Human Class: Living Armory
Strength: 26 Vitality: 25 Dexterity: 25 Health: 100%
Wisdom: 18 Intelligence: 19 Luck: 15 Magic: 100%
Titles
Conqueror of Hell +10 all stats
Skills
Equipment Mastery 100% proficiency will all equipment, and the ability to use all nonmagical equipment-related skills. Ability to identify equipment.
Personal Armory The unique ability of the Living Armory class, allowing them to store any item that they can carry in a personal storage space, to be retrieved at any time in the future.
Extra Arms Army Brand (Locked)
I smiled slightly, seeing the two new skills added to my list, as well as the small buff to my stats. Lilith, seeing the change, had a confused look on her face. ¡°So, since you seem to be the man with all the answers, where are we going?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not going anywhere.¡± I answered, sifting through the information I had on this layer. ¡°This is the eighth layer, the wildlands. We should grab the artifact from this floor before we move on.¡± Lilith smiled, seemingly happy with my change in attitude. ¡°And what item is on this floor?¡± ¡°The eighth floor is the home of the World Tree. If we can get some amber from the tree, we can use it to craft an item that boosts magic. If we can cut a small branch from the tree, I can make it into a staff for you once we get the right tools. Even its leaves are useful, because they can be consumed to replenish magical energy.¡± Lilith¡¯s eyes grew wide as she heard my explanation. ¡°And you¡¯re sure about all of that? There¡¯s really something that amazing here?¡± Her eyes scanned the horizon, as if looking for the tree in question. I simply nodded my head. ¡°I¡¯m sure. If my memory serves me, it will be guarded by Fenrir, the demon wolf. As for its location¡­ I¡¯ll need to see a map of this layer to pinpoint where it is in relation to us.¡± I really wanted to get my hands on that map, anyways. The World Tree was more than just a key location on this floor, it was one I had personally visited in the game. If I could find it, I should be able to use my own game knowledge to find things in the future. Lilith grinned brightly at that. ¡°Well, what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go!¡± She reached down, grabbing my hand and running back towards town with me in tow. I didn¡¯t even get the chance to show her my new inventory skill, which I knew was going to surprise her. I could only let out a small smile as we made our way back to town. On the way, I listed out the things we¡¯d need to make this work. ¡°First, we need an axe capable of cutting down wood as strong as iron. The leaves are easy, they can be found on the ground around the tree. For the amber¡­ that one will be tricky. We¡¯ll need a small hammer and a chisel, but one made of strong enough metal that it will break through the bark of the tree and pry out the amber.¡± Lilith nodded her head repeatedly, taking in everything I was saying. ¡°How are we going to deal with that Fenrir, though? I mean, he¡¯s bound to be really strong, right?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ honestly, no matter what, I think we¡¯re going to die in that fight. My goal is just to distract it long enough for you to gather what we need. Fenrir is a guardian beast that has been eating fruit from the World Tree longer than anyone can remember. You could say he¡¯s an immortal boss, because as long as the tree exists, he can¡¯t die. That¡¯s also why I don¡¯t want us to go after the fruits, because they are cursed objects that would bind us to the tree.¡± That was a mistake I had made earlier on in one of my first playthroughs. Realizing that the fruits were likely the secret to Fenrir¡¯s immortality, I had gathered one while my companions distracted him and ate it. From then on, my character couldn¡¯t die, but I also couldn¡¯t leave an area of five hundred meters around the tree itself. Essentially, I had reached a bad end. Lilith grimaced when I told her about the story, nodding her head gravely. ¡°Okay, so don¡¯t touch the fruits, got it.¡± She said as we were just getting back to town, the guard giving us strange looks. He probably wasn¡¯t so used to seeing the same people so many times in one day. Chapter 9: Bloody Magic After we got in town, I found Belinda looking strangely at Lilith and myself. However, after a moment she simply shrugged and walked off. Finding a map wasn¡¯t really difficult, but we had a harder time finding tools of the quality we would need. Moving through the stores in town, we ended up at a blacksmith shop. ¡°Hmm¡­ this seems to be our best bet.¡± Lilith nodded her head, looking at the store in front of us. It definitely did not seem like anything special, with neither more customers or a more well-kept appearance than other stores. Once inside, I took a look around at the various items on display, and found myself stunned. The lowest quality items were all identifying as +1, while some went as high as +3. I nodded inwardly, this was good. We needed items with at least +2 craftsmanship in order to get the materials we need from the tree. ¡°Can I help you?¡± A male voice rang out, and we turned to find a rather tall, orange-skinned demon standing behind the counter. He had two black tails, a strong muscular build, and his eyes seemed to be on fire. I glanced over to Lilith, who nodded and stepped forward. ¡°Yes, we¡¯re looking for some specific items. Another shop in town pointed us to you, saying that you¡¯d be able to help us.¡± ¡°What¡¯re you looking for, Miss..?¡± ¡°Lilith.¡± She smiled slightly to the demon shopkeeper. ¡°And we need a hammer and chisel, as well as a woodcutting axe, all of as high quality as you can provide.¡± The man nodded, looking at the various tools on his wall. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got a hammer and an axe ready, but I don¡¯t have a chisel made up, it seems. If you can come back tomorrow, I should be able to help you.¡± ¡°Thanks~! We¡¯ll be back tomorrow, then.¡± She called out, before grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the shop. ¡°Now we just need to find a place to stay for the night.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at that. ¡°Good luck¡­ before I had my little breakdown, I went to almost every inn in town, and there were no vacancies.¡± Lilith practically tripped when I said that, looking at me with a panicked expression. ¡°W-well¡­ we can get some camping supplies, and sleep outside? We¡¯ll need to set up watch to make sure that the wolves don¡¯t come after us in the middle of the night¡­¡± I nodded my head at that, and Lilith let out a weak smile. Naturally, our next stop was the general store in town, where we picked up two sleeping bags, two backpacks, and some cooking utensils. Thankfully, we had been left with a rather large amount of money from our last stop, so this much didn¡¯t damage our wallet too much. ¡°Okay¡­ let¡¯s¡­ go out and find a spot, I guess.¡± Lilith sighed, her expression downcast as we walked outside the town once again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this¡¯ll be fun. Besides, there¡¯s still some time before we have to turn in for the night, and we need to talk about some things before we get too distracted by stuff.¡± When I said that, she looked at me, a bit worried. No doubt, she was afraid I might have another mental breakdown like I did early. ¡°It¡¯s fine, nothing¡­ okay, can¡¯t say nothing major, but nothing bad, at least.¡± She breathed out a sigh of relief, and we continued walking for some time. She tried to set us up just outside the walls, but I silently shook my head. What I had to talk to her about would require a bit of privacy, and I didn¡¯t want a guard watching me as I revealed my inventory. A little over an hour later, we were just outside of view from the town, on the edge of a small forest where the trees would block the line of sight. Lilith pulled the sleeping bag from her backpack and began rolling it out. ¡°Alright, what did you want to talk about?¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°Well, you remember how I said that this was all a game, where I come from?¡± She nodded her head warily. ¡°Well, there¡¯s another aspect of that game, which doesn¡¯t seem to apply to most people of this world.¡± ¡°Eh? That sounds weird, given everything else. What is it?¡± ¡°Classes. The main character in the game always had the ability to choose a class for himself, and each class had a special ability, as well as attribute bonuses associated with it.¡± I did my best to explain, and Lilith nodded again, sitting down on her sleeping bag. ¡°So, like Fighter, or Wizard? Those kinds of classes?¡± It¡¯s good to see that she understood basic RPG classes. ¡°For the most part.¡± I started, shaking my head. ¡°But most of them are a bit more complicated. Instead of a fighter, you might become a Cleaver, which is a class specializing in heavy swords.¡± ¡°I¡­ think I get it. And, you got a class, I take it? That¡¯s why you suddenly looked a bit different before?¡± Lilith asked, looking me over pointedly, as if making sure I knew she was aware of the changes. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. I had been holding off before, because I thought I¡¯d be able to find a job and live a normal life.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but sigh, feeling a pain in my heart that I had to fight down. This isn¡¯t the right time to lose it. ¡°But, after seeing Kevin, I knew I had to get a class.¡± ¡°Okay, so what¡¯d you get, and what makes it so impressive?¡± I took a deep breath, unsheathing one of my swords. I saw Lilith tense up, eyeing the blade with caution. ¡°It¡¯s called Living Armory, a class only available because of my special skill I told you about. As for its abilities¡­ there are two, but I can only use one right now.¡± I closed my eyes, focusing, and mentally selected the Personal Armory skill. I felt a slight prick of pain in my hand, and when I opened my eyes I found that I had cut my palm slightly with the blade. After a drop of blood fell on the weapon, the entire thing turned blood red and faded away like mist. Lilith was sitting there, eyes wide and mouth hanging open as she watched. ¡°Was that magic?¡± She asked, looking up at me. She knew I hadn¡¯t taken the lessons, I had paid for her to go instead. Normally speaking, I shouldn¡¯t have had the chance to learn magic since coming to this world. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think so? Maybe it¡¯d be better to call it an innate trait?¡± I then looked to the two bags of money, and gulped. ¡°I really hope that I don¡¯t have to use a drop of blood for every coin.¡± I saw Lilith¡¯s face pale a bit when I said that, understanding my meaning. ¡°Yeah, that would be bad. But, you can call the items back out, right?¡± I nodded, focusing on my Personal Armory. As I did, a list appeared in my mind, telling me what was in there. Of course, right now it was only the single short sword. Selecting it, I held out my hand and waited. Red mist congealed in front of me, and soon it had formed into the shape of that same weapon. Once I grabbed onto the hilt, the red mist vanished, leaving only the item itself. Lilith smiled, pleased with the results of this demonstration. ¡°So, you said you had another ability, right? What is it?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I can¡¯t use it until I unlock my magic, but afterwards I should be able to place my personal brand on objects, and control them with my mind.¡± Lilith let out a small gasp when she heard that. ¡°Isn¡¯t that basically completely overpowered, if you add in your Equipment Mastery thing? I mean, you already do some serious damage with just two swords, imagine if you could use double that at once.¡± I let out a small smile. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why I chose this class. It¡¯s the perfect support for the skill, and we¡¯re going to need all the power we can get.¡± My demoness friend nodded at that, unable to disagree. ¡°Alright then! Let¡¯s try to unlock your magic.¡± She clapped her hands together once with a wide smile, but then looked at me in confusion. ¡°Uhm, how deep did they go into the explanation for how that works, in your game?¡± At this point, I could only shake my head. ¡°They didn¡¯t, it was one of the areas they glossed over. As long as you had a free talent point when you took a lesson, the game skipped to you having your mana pool unlocked. After that, you could take certain actions to help unlock different magic paths, but it never explained anything that would help me here.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Lilith smiled in relief, patting her chest. ¡°Oh, good, so I can still be of some help, then. Come on, sit down.¡± I laughed lightly, sitting down in front of her. ¡°So, you know about the magic brands, right?¡± Once again, I had to shake my head. ¡°The class skill was the first time I had heard of it.¡± Lilith seemed surprised at that, but shrugged it off easily enough. ¡°Okay, guess that¡¯s just something else I need to explain.¡± She took a deep breath, holding up her right hand. When she clenched her fist, a glowing white pattern began to outline itself on the back of her palm. The top half looked to be wide, leathery wings forming two arches, while the lower half had two daggers coming down from those wings at an angle, the tips of their blades touching at the very bottom. Overall, it looked like a strange drawing of a heart with the general outline. ¡°From what the mage in Darknorth said, everyone has a mark on their soul. This mark represents who they are, and what they¡¯ve been through. Over time, it may gradually change, if a shocking event occurs. For instance¡­¡± She looked a bit hesitant to continue, but eventually said it. ¡°I imagine that your own mark looks different now than it had, before you discovered the truth.¡± I could only nod with a bitter smile as her own mark faded, before continuing with her explanation. ¡°Everyone has this mark somewhere on their body, generally in an area they frequently use. That lecher tried to get me to strip down for him, because he wanted to do a ¡®thorough¡¯ search.¡± Lilith shivered slightly as she said that, bringing her arms up to cover her chest. ¡°For most people, it would be their dominant hand. But, that¡¯s not always the case. The brand is pulled towards areas of the highest activity, so if you are a constant runner, it might be on your foot or leg. A strategist might have it on their head, a singer on their throat. For you¡­ it should be on one of your hands, I think.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ so how do we pull it out?¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting to that.¡± She chuckled, smiling to me as she started to relax, the mark on her hand still glowing as she extended it towards me. ¡°Give me your main hand, and I¡¯ll try to awaken your brand. This doesn¡¯t take too long if you guess right on the first try, but each attempt uses quite a bit of energy. With my magic, I think I can only try this once tonight.¡± I nodded my head, holding my right hand out towards her. She covered it with her own hand, and then furrowed her brows in concentration. I could feel a thick energy pouring into my hand, trying to pull something out. After the first ten seconds, it seemed to latch onto something in the depths of my hand. It felt like there were invisible chains digging into my palm, and I suppressed a groan of pain as they pulled. ¡°Found it.¡± She said with a grin, and the force behind the chains only grew stronger. I let out a hiss as I felt like the skin on my hand was tearing, but at the same time, a warm flow of energy spread out from my hand. This energy rushed through my body, flowing through every part of me before returning to the source, where I felt it stop. When Lilith pulled her hand away, I saw for the first time what my own brand looked like. Unlike her own white glow, mine radiated a black light, in the shape of a skull. A single sword pierced through the skull, from top to bottom, and another through the sides. It seemed like some twisted form of cross, but I couldn¡¯t help shivering as I saw the eerie black glow from it. ¡°Well, at least we have your magic unlocked now, right?¡± Lilith offered with a weak smile, also looking at the brand on my hand. ¡°So, why don¡¯t you give your other ability a shot? It should work now, right?¡± I snapped out of my rather depressing thought regarding the imagery behind my brand when I heard her words, remembering the entire reason I wanted my magic unlocked in the first place. ¡°Right.¡± I nodded, pulling out the same sword that I had used to demonstrate the Personal Armory. Before blindly testing the skill, I decided to first look at its unlocked description.
Name: Grim Styles Level: 1 Race: Human Class: Living Armory
Strength: 26 Vitality: 25 Dexterity: 25 Health: 98%
Wisdom: 18 Intelligence: 19 Luck: 15 Magic: 100%
Titles
Conqueror of Hell +10 all stats
Skills
Equipment Mastery 100% proficiency will all equipment, and the ability to use all nonmagical equipment-related skills. Ability to identify equipment.
Personal Armory The unique ability of the Living Armory class, allowing them to store any item that they can carry in a personal storage space, to be retrieved at any time in the future.
Extra Arms Army Brand The primary combat ability of the Living Army class, allowing them to brand items to wield with their minds. Current maximum brands active: 2
I was slightly surprised by the last part of the skill.Maybe it takes more proficiency in magic to split my focus enough to use more brands at once?I thought curiously, before selecting the skill, choosing to place the brand on the sword I was holding. The black light on the back of my hand grew more intense, before the brand itself seemed to hover off my hand, floating through the air. It only moved for a few moments before coming to rest on the center of the short sword I was holding. When it made contact, black lines began spreading out in a network throughout the entirety of the object, and I felt an image seared into my mind. Every detail of the weapon was etched into memory, and I couldn¡¯t help but visualize it. With a thought, the sword flew out of my hand, hovering in the air above me before turning. With its blade pointed down, it stabbed directly into the ground, half its length vanishing into the dirt. Looking at my status again, my magic was declining at around one percent a second. I suddenly recalled an aspect of magic from the game, and hurriedly tried to cancel the ability. In Layers of Hell, certain debuffs were applied when magic was reduced too low. Below 50%, the character suffered fatigue. Below 20%, it was increased to weakness, forcing them to drop any carried items. Finally, at 0%, the character would pass out entirely. I was not in a hurry to experience these effects for myself, so I focused on pulling my magic out of the sword. Once again, my brand flew through the air. Though this time, it was leaving the sword in order to return to its normal place on my hand. At the same time, the image of the sword which had been burned into my mind slowly faded, the sword no longer touched by my magic.Oh¡­ so the brands aren¡¯t permanent. Well, that will make things more complicated. ¡°That was kind of cool.¡± Lilith said, still sitting on her sleeping bag. ¡°You¡¯re definitely going to need to train that a lot, you know?¡± I could only smile weakly, nodding my head. I would need to practice this. Having only two brands active at a time, each one draining a full one percent of my magic every second, would quickly make it difficult to keep up in the lower floors. ¡°Yeah, I know. But, at least we know how it works now.¡± I decided to finally get my own sleeping bag out and set up. ¡°You go ahead and rest, I¡¯ll take first watch.¡± Lilith gave me a smile, nodding her head as she laid down in her bag, while I looked to the back of my hand. The mark was still there, slowly fading back into my skin. The last thing to vanish was the skull, which seemed to stare at me as it gradually disappeared. Chapter 10: Birth of a Plan For the rest of the night, I slowly waited for my magic to recharge, before practicing again. This time, when I called out my brand, it had a dull grey coloring. I couldn¡¯t tell if there was some meaning behind the color of the brands, or what the brands themselves meant for that matter. Anyways, the most I could do at this stage was ¡®stress training¡¯ my magic, using just half of it at a time and then waiting for it to eventually recover before doing so again. By the time that it was Lilith¡¯s turn to keep watch, I had made¡­ no noticeable progress. Though I say that, I could not find any numbers to back it up. Unlike the skills window, there was no window that I could access for the proficiencies. Aside from my status window, and item identification, there did not seem to be any of the game windows available. In the morning, Lilith and I decided to pack up our small camp, using my personal inventory to store the items. To my surprise, I didn¡¯t find myself drawing blood to store items like I did with the sword. Instead, my brand appeared in a golden flash, attaching itself to one item at a time. When it did so, the item would be absorbed into the golden light and vanish.Does this mean that the blood method was only to be used before I was able to use magic?I frowned slightly, recalling that the sword I had absorbed with my blood still had the ¡®bloody¡¯ appearance method. If that was going to be the only item that appeared from my inventory like that from now on, things would get a bit weird. Thankfully, there did not seem to be a limit to the amount I could store in my inventory, it simply took five percent of my mana for each object. For the record, a large bag of coins still counts as one item, rather than the hundreds of little coins inside it. Lilith and I both let out a sigh of relief when we discovered that, because otherwise we would have spent days trying to place it all in. On our way back to the town, I glanced over to Lilith, who was now carrying an empty backpack and her twin daggers. ¡°So¡­ question.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± She asked as she looked to me, keeping an eye out for any approaching monsters. ¡°With magic¡­ how do you normally do stuff? I mean, you used a healing spell on me, so you should know how it works, and we¡¯ve already established that the magic system is different from what I was used to.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Lilith exclaimed with a smile, nodding her head. ¡°From what I was taught, anyone has the ability to use any kind of magic. Casting it simply requires a clear image, and the proper energy. For instance, when I healed you I imagined your wounds closing up. Different people are naturally able to imagine different scenes more easily, so that is what decides each person¡¯s ¡®path¡¯ of magic. If someone constantly thinks about fire, then naturally they will be able to imagine fire more clearly, right?¡± I could only nod at that. ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s somewhat easier than I thought. So, just imagine the spell while the brand is out, and the magic does the rest?¡± I asked, somewhat doubtfully. ¡°Well, after you imagine it, you have to superimpose the image of your brand over the spell, in order to feed the image through it. But yeah, that¡¯s basically it.¡± I nodded my head again, calling up my brand on my right hand. Once again, it lit up with a black light.Just imagine the spell, huh?I thought to myself, flipping my hand so that my palm was facing up. I closed my eyes to picture an orb of blue light hovering above my hand, and then did as Lilith instructed, placing the image of my brand over it. With my eyes closed, I could barely notice a blue light shining in front of me, and when I opened them, there really was the orb, exactly as I had imagined it. I could feel the energy from my right hand slowly being pulled out into the orb of light, and as soon as I focused on stopping that energy, the orb disappeared. ¡°Huh¡­¡± I let myself smile slightly, and began wondering about what kind of image I would be able to create most easily for my own type of magic. Before I came to Hell, I was an avid gamer. My job had not required any real thought, as I was a simple cashier at a large store. At the same time, I did not imagine that I had any real special talent for my visualization skills for being from a modern world. While it may not look like it, Hell was actually fairly modern itself. Down on the tenth floor, the cities looked like what one may find on Earth. The only reason that most of the other layers didn¡¯t have similar looks was because of the levels of the monsters that inhabited them. I mean, it would be hard to build a large metropolis if you had to worry about a dragon coming in and shattering it every other day during construction. On those dangerous floors, the cities would be kept to small villages, positioned mostly in the safer areas where monsters don¡¯t frequent as often. Given all of that, and the fact that all of the great scientists from Earth likely died and came here, sharing the knowledge they had come up with in their lifetimes, there was almost no chance that they would be behind in their imagination compared to Earth. If anything, I might be at a disadvantage in that regard. So, I had to consider myself as just an average person, in that regard. I could try to focus on my weapon skills, create magic to use through that. However, there wasn¡¯t really a need in modern Earth for people to carry around weapons like swords and axes. As for guns, I wasn¡¯t that familiar in their construction, so it was unlikely I¡¯d be able to make anything usable with my magic. The most I had to work with in that field was what I had seen in games.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. My only real specialization in my previous life had truly been games. I considered for a moment about making that my path of magic, but quickly shook my head to get rid of that thought. Summoning pac-man to do my bidding is not likely to have any kind of a good effect in battle.Am I really just going to be keeping my magic limited to my class ability?I also refused to believe that, if for no other reason than I would not be able to survive that way. While my class abilities seem overpowered on these floors, once we start moving down, they will become weak compared to the local monsters. No matter how many swords I can wield without my hands, or how masterfully, I won¡¯t be able to slay a dragon, let alone a lesser god. Even if I tried to rely purely on my Equipment Mastery, I would need to acquire powerful weapons on the various floors to make up the difference. ¡°You okay, Grim?¡± I heard Lilith asking from next to me, snapping out of my random train of thought. I looked over, and she was watching me with a trace of concern. I nodded my head lightly, offering up a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m fine, just trying to figure out how I want to use my magic.¡± ¡°Ahh, well if it¡¯s about that, why not just wait and see what comes naturally to you? From what you said your mission was, we¡¯re going to be moving through all the different layers of Hell, so at the very least, we¡¯ll be able to get lessons on magic once it becomes more common, right? If the floors get more dangerous the further down we go, that means that the people living there have to get stronger too.¡± I could only nod again at that. ¡°Once we get to the triple digits, more than half of the population should be able to use magic, going by what I know. After two hundred, virtually everyone is able to do it.¡± Lilith¡¯s smile grew a bit wider at that. ¡°See? No problem, then! Once we get down that far, if you haven¡¯t figured out what path you want to take in magic, we can just casually ask someone in one of the cities for advice. They, uh, do still have cities that far down, right?¡± I chuckled slightly when she asked that. ¡°Yeah, though they are small ones, and scattered around. A lot are hidden away in mountain caves or forests to avoid the monsters. Hopefully their locations are the same as the ones in my memory.¡± She let out a sigh of relief after that, and soon we found ourselves back in the city. It didn¡¯t take us long to find our way back to the blacksmith¡¯s shop we had visited the day before. Once inside, we were able to hear the sounds of metal striking against metal echoing throughout the store. No doubt, the blacksmith was back working on something. Lilith and I looked at each other, and decided to simply wait for him to be done. Even if we wanted to shoplift the items that were already prepared for us, they were no longer on display. No doubt, he had them set aside somewhere since we had already asked for them yesterday. ¡°Hah, sorry about that.¡± We heard the yellow-skinned demon speak as the door to the back of the shop opened up. ¡°Was working on an order-- Oh, it¡¯s you two?¡± He asked in mild surprise, before nodding his head once. ¡°Welcome. Take it you¡¯re here for the order you placed yesterday?¡± Lilith nodded, smiling to the man. ¡°That¡¯s right. Do you happen to have it ready for us?¡± ¡°Just finished the chisel now, waiting for it to cool off. I can go ahead and get the other items out for you.¡± He chuckled gruffly, reaching under the counter to pull out a large bag. ¡°One hammer, one woodcutting axe, and one chisel, all of the highest quality I could manage. The total will be twenty-three hundred sin.¡± Lilith whistled slightly as the price was listed, and then glanced in my direction. With a nod, I pulled the bag of coins that was still left inside my backpack out, and handed it to her. After that, Lilith pulled out three green coins, handing them over to the blacksmith. ¡°Sorry, can you make change for us.¡± The man seemed surprised that Lilith had taken out those coins as she did, but soon recovered. ¡°Alright.¡± He reached under the counter to pull out his own bag, and retrieved one blue coin, and two pink ones, before passing them to Lilith. ¡°Give me just a minute to fetch the chisel, and I¡¯ll be right back.¡± After the man disappeared into the back of the store, I smiled to Lilith. ¡°When we get out of here, I¡¯ll need you to teach me how the money works here¡­¡± Seeing the surprised look on her face, I quickly explained. ¡°I know the name of the currency, but I don¡¯t know what the different colors are for.¡± She nodded her head, accepting that with a small grin of her own. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll be more than happy to help you handle your money~.¡± She teased playfully, after which the blacksmith came back, holding a small chisel in his hands. ¡°You didn¡¯t specify what size you wanted, so I went with a two inch thick blade.¡± As he said that, he showed the item to us before putting it in the bag. Before he did so, I managed to focus on it enough to identify it.
Silversteel Chisel +3
Damage: 0%
Special Options: Lesser Damage Increase
I looked over to Lilith, nodding my head slightly to indicate that the chisel was good. If it was made of silversteel, then we were actually getting a pretty good deal, by my understanding. That was a metal not normally found until the twentieth floor, and was roughly twice as strong as steel, without losing any flexibility. I guess he took our order seriously, and really did make this as high quality as he could. Lilith smiled when she saw my nod. ¡°Thanks a lot. This is going to help us quite a bit, believe me.¡± She gave a polite bow towards the blacksmith, which showed off an ample amount of cleavage. The blacksmith, showing that he was at least somewhat of a gentleman, coughed and averted his eyes after only a few seconds of staring. ¡°Pleasure doing business with you.¡± He said with an awkward voice, causing Lilith and I to laugh as we took the bag and left the store. Now it was time to find our way to Fenrir, and march towards our death. Chapter 11: Kill or be Killed Roughly ten minutes after we had exited town, Lilith turned to me while we were walking and spoke up. ¡°So, you wanted to know about the currency here, right?¡± She asked with a small smile. ¡°Yeah¡­ figured it might be important.¡± To be honest, I had no idea how much money I was carrying, as it was only a pile of differently colored coins to me. This wasn¡¯t a problem in the game, because the currency was represented simply as a number. Lilith nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Probably best if you know how to manage it, eventually.¡± She took a deep breath, looking around to make sure the area was safe before stopping to explain. ¡°Okay. First of all, the money here is called sin, which you probably noticed already.¡± When she saw me nod her head, she continued. ¡°There are seven different levels of sin coins, each having its own color. These are named after each of the Seven Sins, which were disclosed thousands of years ago. First, there is the Sloth coin, which is a deep brown. Sloth represents one sin, and can¡¯t really buy anything on its own.¡± ¡°Next is Gluttony, a murky yellow coin. Gluttony counts as ten sins. In the tenth layer, we had a common saying. ¡®Gluttony to sate Gluttony, Lust to sate Lust, Wrath to sate Wrath¡¯. This is because one Gluttony coin is enough to buy a cheap meal. One Lust coin, a pink coin worth one hundred sins, is enough to pay for a cheap prostitute. One Wrath coin, blue and worth five hundred sins, is enough to pay to have someone attacked.¡± ¡°Above Wrath you have Envy, where you start buying items of high value. Those are the green coins that I used to pay for our tools, which were of the highest quality that blacksmith could make. One Envy coin is worth one thousand sins.¡± Lilith paused to take another breath before continuing. ¡°After Envy comes Pride, a darker purple coin. One Pride coin is worth five thousand sins. Then, finally there is Greed. One golden Greed coin is worth ten thousand sins, and is considered a small treasure on its own.¡± I nodded my head as she finished her explanation. ¡°And to think that it took one of those Greed coins just to get a single lesson in magic.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh at the fortune that had slipped away without me ever knowing. ¡°Yeah¡­ even though it was really such an easy process.¡± Lilith chuckled lightly, shaking her head. ¡°They¡¯re just greedy bastards, I think.¡± ¡°But, there¡¯s nothing above the seven sins?¡± I asked, curiously. While ten thousand sin might seem like a large amount for now, it wouldn¡¯t really amount to much once we went down enough floors. Lilith only shrugged her shoulders at that. ¡°It¡¯s the highest I¡¯ve heard of, at least. For all I know, they could use a completely different system every one hundred levels or so. Maybe eventually it will be virtue coins instead of sins.¡± I had to nod at that, though I could say that the name of the currency never changed in the game. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s go over the strategy for fighting Fenrir. If we aren¡¯t careful, we¡¯ll die before we are even able to get any of the items we want from the tree.¡± Lilith smiled to me, turning to resume walking. We were currently heading south through the plains, towards a city I was reasonably familiar with. According to my memory, it should be the city closest to the World Tree. ¡°Alright, then, what¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°I¡¯d say for you to practice an invisibility spell, but that won¡¯t help. Fenrir has high detection abilities, so he¡¯d be able to see through it. Instead, I¡¯ll have to distract him while you gather the items. My job is to stay alive for as long as possible while keeping his attention. Yours is to gather what we need.¡± ¡°And¡­ what should I be prioritizing?¡± She asked after she heard my explanation. ¡°Well¡­ Ideally, I would like at least two branches, two meters long each. After that comes the amber, which we need at least one fist-sized piece. If I¡¯m still alive after you get that much, pick up as many of the leaves as you can.¡± I wanted to make Lilith a staff to help with her magic, if possible, and would like to make a bow out of the tree¡¯s wood as well. Actually, I was curious how using a bow would work with my class abilities. ¡°Got it. Anything else I should be on the lookout for?¡± I shook my head when Lilith asked that. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any gear from past adventurers nearby, unless it was a relic from a previous floor that Fenrir couldn¡¯t get rid of. If you see anything like that, it would be great to grab, but not a priority.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to be doing this a lot, aren¡¯t we¡­?¡± Lilith asked, somewhat hesitantly. I could only smile bitterly, nodding in response. ¡°When the layer has a special ability, it¡¯s just a matter of convincing the owner of that ability to teach it to us, or stealing the item that the ability is stored in. But, when it¡¯s an item, we¡¯re almost always going to die getting it. Over half of the guardians have some kind of immortality like Fenrir, while the others are insanely strong creatures from a couple hundred floors below.¡± ¡°And we have to do this for every floor? That sounds like¡­ this adventure would take forever.¡± Lilith¡¯s face scrunched up as she said that, obviously not fond of the idea. I laughed lightly as I continued walking. ¡°No, not all of them. Some floors don¡¯t have items that would fit our goals. For instance, the layers that have objects or spells focused on necromancy, we wouldn¡¯t have as much use for.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Lilith gave a sigh of relief as she heard that, before asking another question. ¡°What about the next few floors after this? I know that you know what they have, so I¡¯d at least like to be let in on the game plan?¡± I thought about it for a moment, and she was right. ¡°The next level has the Lion King¡¯s Claw, a fist weapon that increases physical attributes. It also comes with a special skill that will allow it to permanently meld with the user, making the changes permanent. However, doing so changes the user into a lion-type beastman. This isn¡¯t bad in itself, but if you get another item like that in the future, the changes aren¡¯t cumulative. If you change to a different race later, you¡¯ll lose the bonuses from the claw.¡± Lilith looked me over as I explained. ¡°I think you¡¯d look pretty good as a lion man, though.¡± She teased. However, I shook my head in denial. ¡°No, I¡¯d rather not. The boost to physical abilities are pretty good, so I might consider getting it, but I won¡¯t use the skill.¡± ¡°Fine, fine. Well¡­ how about the tenth layer?¡± Lilith seemed slightly less excited when she asked about this one, turning her head to the side to look elsewhere. ¡°The tenth level has an item we absolutely need.¡± I could tell that Lilith wasn¡¯t eager to go back to that layer for some reason, but this was the truth. ¡°In the tenth layer, there is the King¡¯s Mansion Key. This item would let us summon a doorway from wherever we were that would lead to an extradimensional house. Only those allowed by the holder of the key can enter, so it is something we desperately need. The two of us can¡¯t easily keep watch at night, so something like this is necessary.¡± Lilith was surprised as I told her the item that we would find, and could only helplessly nod her head. ¡°Alright¡­ I can see your point. I never heard of an item like that, though.¡± I chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s not surprising. Most people on this floor likely don¡¯t know about the World Tree, because anyone that gets close to it has to fight the invincible guardian. Nobody lives to tell the tale, and few people that die in this level will ever become strong enough to make their way back.¡± Lilith nodded, though I could tell that she was thinking about something else. ¡°Is there a reason that you don¡¯t want to go to the tenth layer? That is your home, after all.¡± She shook her head at that, smiling bitterly. ¡°Not anymore. Sorry, Grim, but I can¡¯t really talk about it yet. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not something that would make trouble for us later, just some baggage. I¡¯ll tell you all about it when I feel up to it, alright?¡± I could only nod my head, accepting that. I wasn¡¯t really one to criticize her for wanting to keep things to herself, since I wouldn¡¯t have even told her about my circumstances if it wasn¡¯t for seeing Kevin earlier. As long as she was telling the truth, and it wouldn¡¯t get in the way of our mission, I didn¡¯t mind. ¡°So¡­¡± She said, breaking the suddenly awkward silence. ¡°Are there any other treasures that we should be on the lookout for?¡± ¡°Well¡­ there¡¯s no point planning too many floors in advance. After we get the key, the eleventh floor doesn¡¯t have anything that we need badly. The twelfth one, however, has a sword that I¡¯d like to add to my collection.¡± Lilith had a mischievous smile as she spoke next. ¡°Why, is it an instant kill sword or something?¡± I raised my eyebrows at that, shaking my head. ¡°No, those don¡¯t show up until we get near the bottom floor. This sword is named Zulfiqar, and has the ability to split itself into ten identical swords. Each copy of Zulfiqar has the same strength, but if one is damaged, it returns to the original, and can¡¯t be called back out for a full day.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ that¡¯s quite a weapon. And a good match for your remote control power.¡± Lilith nodded her head in understanding. ¡°But, what about me? I mean, your powers make it so that you can handle the front line easily, so what am I supposed to do?¡± ¡°Well¡­ if you¡¯d like, it¡¯d help the most for you to focus on magic. I was hoping to make you a staff from one of the branches of the World Tree, and the amber. We definitely need a healer, and my powers won¡¯t have as much use the further down we go.¡± Lilith thought about that, and nodded her head after a few moments. ¡°Alright, I can handle that. This should help me figure out my path of magic easier, too.¡± She smiled, looking ahead at one of the wolves in the distance. ¡°And¡­ I definitely won¡¯t disagree with letting you be the one to fight in close quarters.¡± I smirked slightly at that, walking towards that wolf and extending my hand out to my side. Blood red mist congealed and formed into the short sword that I had originally stored with that method. ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s what this body was made for.¡± As the wolf saw us casually approaching it, it let out a loud howl to call for reinforcements, before charging towards me. My right hand glowed with a red light as my brand appeared. One of the swords unsheathed itself from the skull in the brand, moving to place itself on the short sword I held. This was something I had discovered while practicing alone at night. Focusing the full brand on a single weapon offered more power and control, but if I only used a single part of it, then I could save a bit on the energy. When the brand had merged with the sword in my hand, I let go of the handle. The sword floated in midair around me, orbiting quietly as the wolf approached. I could probably handle this animal easily with any number of my weapon skills, but I wanted to use this chance to practice for the upcoming boss fight. I pointed my hand forward, and the sword shot through the air to stab towards the charging wolf. Just as it was about to connect, the beast jumped to the side to avoid it, growling as it continued its charge towards me. I brought one foot back and turned my body to take a fighting stance, while controlling the sword to turn around and fly towards the wolf again. My body moved exactly as I wanted it to, far more fluidly and comfortably than it ever could when I was alive. The wolf was lunging directly towards me when I ducked down, letting it pass over me. I felt a tearing pain on my back as its rear claws dug into my skin, but reached my hand up just in time to grab the sword that had been flying towards the wolf. Turning around, I gave a powerful downward swing, just as the wolf was repositioning to attack again. It let out a pained yelp, the left side of its face cut deeply. Once again, I released the grip on the sword, letting it fly around me as I took the initiative to lunge. The wolf seemed shocked by this, but I was already on its back, my arms around its neck. It bucked like a wild bull, trying to knock me off, but my grip only tightened as I felt for where the base of its skull met its spine. With one sharp snap, I twisted the neck of the wolf, causing it to let out a truly pained cry before it fell to the ground. Lilith was watching the entire thing with an amused smile, and when I looked to see what she found funny, she pointed behind me. Turning, I saw a dozen similar wolves charging from the distance, answering the call of their pack. Chapter 12: Dying of Embarrassment ¡°Hahh¡­ hahhh¡­¡± I let out a tired sigh as I was collapsed near the scattered pile of wolf bodies. The short sword I had previously used was now snapped in half, with its blade embedded in the underbelly of one of the beasts. There were long cuts along my arms, but a panicked looking Lilith was tending to that while sitting next to me. ¡°Maybe don¡¯t try to show off so much next time?¡± She asked with a strained smile, looking at the hilt of the broken sword that I still clutched in my hand. ¡°Right¡­ we¡¯re going to need to get weapons at the next town¡­¡± Her smile turned more wry as she heard my comment. ¡°Well, we could always turn around and go back to that town again¡­¡± ¡°No¡­¡± I pleaded, weakly lifting an arm. ¡°We already had to go there three times. If we keep turning around, we¡¯ll never get anywhere!¡± Lilith laughed lightly at that comment. ¡°Alright, alright. Fair enough. Since you want me to stay in the back and be the party caster, you can use my daggers until we get to another city.¡± ¡°Yay.¡± I let out a weak voice, waiting for the warm energy flowing through my body to finish healing me. In the back of my mind, I considered whether my blood bonding with a weapon could allow me to cheat and repair it. I mean, it became a blood mist every time I stored it, and came from that same mist when I summoned it. Shouldn¡¯t that mean the two mists can rejoin? As I decided to test that, I stored my sword hilt back into my armory. However, the blade that had snapped off remained in the stomach of the wolf I had used it to kill.Fuck¡­ there goes that cheat. Though, this did bring to mind a distinct difference between the two types of storage I was capable of. When I stored something with blood, it took a small amount of health for the initial binding, but I could then call it and re-store it later for free. However, using my magic to store and retrieve items slowly drained my energies. Also, I had to admit that it would look cool to summon dozens of weapons from a bloody mist. Nodding to myself, I made the determination to store my weapons like that in the future, with tools or other noncombat items being stored through my magic. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t want to eat out of a plate that had been formed from a bloody mist. Once I was able to stand, we resumed our trek towards Treevale, the uncreative name given to the town at the borders of the Infinite Woods. The sad thing was that it would take nearly a week of walking to get there, but there were still two towns on the way that we could stop at to rest and resupply. The first town was a little over a full day¡¯s walk away, and was the one where I had determined to buy new weapons. It wouldn¡¯t take us long to get there, the only real problem was the journey itself. At night, we had to camp along the path where there were less monsters, taking turns on watch while the other rested. Even then, we were barely able to get any sleep. That night, we were attacked three times by wolves, each time having to kill them all or fight them back until they retreated. By the time we began walking the next day, the both of us were nearly ready to collapse on our feet. If not for the fact that our destination was so close, we might have decided to just rest along the road again. Thankfully, we were eventually able to make it to the town in one piece. More luckily, we were able to bring with us one of the larger corpses of the wolves that had attacked us in the night. This was a test to see if I could carry a corpse within my storage, as the explanation had been rather vague. At the very least, it didn¡¯t seem to mind it after I picked the wolf¡¯s body up, though it was too big for me to put it in with mana. Once in the town, we made our way to the local leatherworker first. This town looked almost identical to the one we had been in before, except that it¡¯s layout was slightly different. It did not take us long to find the right shop, entering it to find a toned woman with short black hair. From what I could tell, she appeared to be human, though that did not mean she wasn¡¯t hiding a tail or something, knowing this place. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± She asked, placing her hands on her hips as she examined the two of us. Our clothes did not show any signs of battle, since I had repaired them after the fight, with Lilith taking care of the cleaning. ¡°I want to drop off a wolf body, and was hoping you¡¯d help us turn it into armor.¡± I admitted. While I might be able to make the armor myself, and could likely do so better than most, I did not have the tools to properly tan the hide and prepare it. It¡¯d be easier to just pay someone else to do this. ¡°One of the wolves, eh?¡± She nodded her head as if that wasn¡¯t too uncommon. They were pretty much the most common monster on this floor, unless something wandered in from somewhere else. ¡°Alright, come on back here, and you can take it out.¡± She motioned back towards a room behind the shop itself. ¡°Guessing you have a storage spell or something, since you are obviously not carrying a giant wolf with you.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I nodded my head at that, agreeing as I walked with her.She¡¯s accepting that kind of spell pretty easily, considering how shocked Lilith was when she saw it. Or was that just because she knew the actual details of my storage?Either way, the area she led us to was wide enough that I was able to take out the wolf corpse from my storage. She seemed a bit surprised when the bloody mist formed, solidifying itself as the wolf that we had slain. ¡°Well¡­ to each their own, I guess?¡± She mumbled, shaking her head. ¡°Anyways, this thing is definitely big enough for a full set of armor. Though, if you don¡¯t feel like waiting, you can just choose one of the armors I¡¯ve already completed from these things, and we can call it an even trade.¡± Part of me felt like we were getting ripped off, but another part of me wanted to test something out. So, I ended up nodding my head. ¡°Alright. Mind showing us which ones are available?¡± I asked, before I felt something within my head seeming to snap.
ItemDire Wolf Corpsehas been traded away. Blood binding automatically revoked.
Okay, good to know. I had been tempted to see if I¡¯d be able to make the trade, and then recall the wolf through the blood pact. It doesn¡¯t seem like that is an option now, however. The leatherworker nodded, leading us back to the front of the store, before motioning towards the left wall, which had an assortment of leather armors. One thing of note was that almost all of the helmets resembled a wolf¡¯s head. ¡°Anything from that wall is made from these wolves. Take your pick. You can choose a chest armor, leggings, boots, bracers, and a helmet. Oh, and don¡¯t bother trying to run off with them before I get back, I had someone put a tracking spell on all my goods, and it won¡¯t come off unless I personally do it.¡± She said with a smirk, before heading back to the wolf, likely to inspect it. I wasn¡¯t worried about the quality of the corpse being an issue. We had chosen to bring it in the first place because it was the cleanest kill we had, a single knife through the eye killing it. Looking at the armors, I began appraising each one. If she was going to try to get the best of us in this deal, well I¡¯d make sure that I got the best that I could get too. With a small grin, I picked up the only +3 piece of armor in the selection. It was a chest piece with the special option of slight damage reduction, but it was still the best there was. As for the other pieces, I managed to grab a +2 of everything. When the shopkeeper came back, she didn¡¯t seem surprised by my choice, as much as she was when she looked at the displays and saw that the pieces were all taken from different sets. ¡°Gotta make things difficult, huh?¡± She asked with a sigh, shaking her head. ¡°Alright, bring them over.¡± I brought the armor pieces that I had chosen to her, and set them on the counter. After she placed her hands on them, she cleared her throat. In a loud and clear voice, she spoke. ¡°Thank you for your business.¡± When her voice faded, there was a faint light that flashed from the armor, likely a sign that the magic was removed. ¡°Alright, you can take them.¡± She said with a shrug, as if the armor no longer mattered to her. No doubt, she could make far more than whatever this would have cost by selling the extra materials from the wolf. Nodding my head, Lilith and I left the store, looking around for the blacksmith next. This time, we had a clear objective¡­ which was to buy a LOT of weapons. As many as we reasonably could. Which, as it turned out, was not that many. When we left the second store, I had two giant axes strapped to my back, a greatsword, a longsword, a rapier, and a bow with twenty arrows. I needed backups, okay? Besides, some enemies require a special type of weapon to deal with them. Anyways, we decided on staying in an inn for the night, so that I¡¯d be able to store all of those weapons with a blood pact. I didn¡¯t want to try to do it all out in front of everyone, and there was no way in hell that we wanted me to be weary from blood loss outside of town. That would just be offering up a free meal to the wolves¡­ Lilith seemed concerned when she saw me bind each arrow separately, rather than all at once. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that just make it harder on you..?¡± She asked, concern in her tone. I briefly nodded my head, agreeing with her. I had saved the arrows for last, and was already starting to feel a bit woozy. ¡°It does¡­ But I need to do it like this, since I have the chance.¡± ¡°...Uhm¡­ Why?¡± I sighed slightly at the question, pausing to explain. ¡°Bow and arrow¡­ two objects. I can only control two at a time with my power. I¡¯d rather just control the arrow itself if that was the case, or hold the bow and fire arrows while using swords to attack from a distance. If I bind them all at once¡­ they¡¯ll come out all at once. And if I bind them with blood¡­ it won¡¯t cost me any mana to summon them in a fight.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I think I get it.¡± She nodded her head slightly, seeming to understand. ¡°Can you even use your power to make an arrow fly fast enough without a bow?¡± ¡°I¡­ was going to test that tomorrow?¡± I said, looking away slightly. Honestly, I didn¡¯t know the answer to that myself, and had been planning to test it as soon as I could. More importantly, I wanted to test if I¡¯d be able to recover the arrows. I heard a small laugh from Lilith as I said that, before she looked around the room with a smile. ¡°Well, at least we can properly sleep this time¡­¡± She said as she made her way over to the bed, the exhaustion from the trip seeming to catch up with her when she fell on it, letting out a happy groan. Right¡­ one bed. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ uhm¡­ sleep on the floor.¡± I chuckled dryly, still remembering my first ¡®interaction¡¯ with Lilith when we were still in the prison. Part of me still felt it was worth it, though. Likely recalling the same thing, I saw her cheeks darken for a moment before she buried her head in the pillow, her horns just barely sticking out. Shaking my head, I went back to finishing up the last of the arrows. When I was done, I found one of the blankets had been taken off the bed, as well as one of the pillows, laid out next to it. Lilith was already asleep, her tail coiled around her thigh as she faced away from me, only a thin blanket covering her. I couldn¡¯t help but smile slightly as I saw that. Chapter 13: Dead and Gone After we woke up the next day, we had a brief meal in town before immediately leaving to continue our journey. Although we did not have any specific time limit to reach the bottom layer, there was also no benefit to us staying here longer than necessary. Besides, for all we knew, whoever WAS the overlord of the underworld in this story was already gathering their forces to march for the surface. Sometimes, no clear time limit was worse than knowing. That being said, our journey to the World Tree was not exactly a fast one. We still had to stop regularly to deal with the wolves that attacked, and occasionally even dealt with enemies from previous floors that fell this far. Of course, most of them would already be eaten by the wolves before we could find them, so that wasn¡¯t much of an issue. The only strange thing that happened during our trip was personally witnessing someone ¡®falling¡¯ to this layer. And calling it falling seems entirely accurate after what we saw. While we were walking along out of the final city along our route, a tiny dark spot appeared in the sky. Confused by its appearance, I glanced up to see what it was, though Lilith did not seem bothered at all. ¡°Looks like he got lucky.¡± She said simply, not even paying attention to the limp figure that fell from the void, which instantly closed behind him. I watched as the man plummeted to the ground, only to stop a few inches from the surface, and gently fall the rest of the distance. ¡°Huh¡­ never saw anything like that in the game.¡± I admitted. Although we could look up, as there were many giant monsters or those that fly in the game to deal with, there had never been a chance where you see someone else descending to the level you are currently at. ¡°Oh? Really?¡± Lilith turned to ask me in surprise. ¡°It¡¯s not that uncommon a sight, honestly. The only real problem is if a monster gets to you before you wake up.¡± Okay¡­ I could definitely see that being a problem. ¡°Remind me to add an item that prevents sleep to our priorities later on. Maybe we won¡¯t be unconscious when we descend if we have that.¡± She seemed to think about it briefly, before nodding her head. ¡°Alright. Though you¡¯re the one that knows when things like that would appear.¡± She¡­ had a point. Thinking back, I felt a grim expression forming on my lips. ¡°The first one¡­ Should be somewhere in the fifties, I think. Sleep effects weren¡¯t too common in the game until the deeper levels, and by then there were more means of defending against them.¡± Lilith let out a light chuckle as she heard that, nodding her head. ¡°Okay, well I guess we¡¯ll just going to have to get used to post-death naps for a while then. At least until we figure out some kind of magic of our own that might work.¡± She added on with one last shrug. I couldn¡¯t help but agree with her. Definitely there would be some floors where we would absolutely have to wake up soon, otherwise we might lose certain chances. Things like layers where you die too quickly if you can¡¯t wake up soon. Our journey through the forest was long, but with the help of our map I was able to keep us on course. The more surprising thing was that, after we had been in the forest for a couple of days, we stopped seeing any monsters. Whether it was wolves, or anything from the previous floors, there was simply nothing around us. The forest had gone silent. ¡°Well¡­ this is just creepy.¡± Lilith couldn¡¯t help but saying after a while as we trekked forward. ¡°The least that they could have done is let the insects stay here, right?¡± She asked, looking in my direction. Right now, I had my greatsword drawn, keeping a wary eye on my surroundings. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I replied, not really considering what she was asking. Even though I wasn¡¯t much one to explore the wilderness before coming to hell, I was still able to realize why there were no monsters around here. We were getting close¡­ this was the territory of Fenrir. All around us, roots as thick as entire trees jutted from the ground, seeming to make a forest all their own as they rose high into the air, before finally curving and moving towards the main body. The area that we were in right now could be considered the very edge of the World Tree¡¯s domain, but it was still dangerous for us. Fenrir could appear at any moment to attack. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just grab the amber from around here?¡± Lilith asked as she looked at the massive roots around us, causing me to shake my head. ¡°We can¡¯t. The amber we need only grows on the main body of the tree. But if you want, you can start picking up leaves.¡± I said jokingly, but my tone turned surprised when she actually dropped down and began picking up any healthy looking leaves on the ground, seriously looking around for them. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ figure out which ones are useful later.¡± Even if it did seem a bit silly, I was glad to see that she was taking this matter entirely seriously. She gave a brief nod, and I decided to wait for her to finish. ¡°So, what are these leaves for, anyways?¡± She asked as she found an especially big one, and decided to use it as the base of the pile to hold the rest. I smiled slightly as I explained, keeping an eye out for any movement nearby. ¡°The World Tree is infused with magic down to its very core. Whether it¡¯s the wood, the amber, or even its leaves, they are all heavily magical items. With the leaves, it¡¯s possible to turn them into a potion that increases your available mana.¡± This was something I learned about through the forums, from some people who had taken the Alchemist class and found the leaves. ¡°Wait, you can just raise your magic like that?¡± She asked in disbelief, looking down to the small pile of leaves she had begun forming. ¡°Isn¡¯t that kind of¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ cheating?¡± I shook my head at her question, easily denying it. ¡°Quite the opposite. In the game, it was possible to ¡®level up¡¯ by killing monsters. But whenever you died and dropped a floor, your level reset, as well as all of the stats that you spent when you leveled up. The only way to get stronger is to train manually, or to use the items that boosted stats throughout the different levels.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ you mean the death¡¯s aura.¡± Lilith said with an understanding nod, making me look at her curiously. ¡°Yeah, whenever you kill something, you absorb a small part of their ¡®death aura¡¯. After you get enough, your body becomes more powerful. I didn¡¯t know anything about losing all of it when you died, though.¡± She finished with a casual shrug, standing up with a pile of leaves half as tall as her torso. ¡°These should be enough, right?¡± ¡°..Right.¡± I nodded faintly, taking the pile of leaves and putting them in my living armory. Taking a quick glance at the list, I saw that most of the leaves were simple tree leaves, while nine of them were from the World Tree itself. ¡°You stand watch for now¡­¡± I said with a shake of my head. ¡°We need one more to make the potion¡­¡± Rather than having her look around blindly, I had her start watching for enemies as I looked through the ground, identifying any leaves I spotted until I found one that identified as the World Tree Leaf. With a satisfied nod, I put it in my armory, and then we moved on to continue. ¡°Uhm¡­ Grim.¡± Or we would have, if Lilith didn¡¯t apparently need my attention for something.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Yeah?¡± I asked, looking over to her. She was looking at the ground a bit strangely, and it wasn¡¯t until I followed her gaze that I figured out why. ¡°Why¡¯s the dirt red?¡± I hadn¡¯t noticed it at first, but she was right. I had thought that it was simply red clay, but this was different. The red was deeper, almost like blood. Curious, I turned my sword over in my hands and stabbed it into the ground, drawing a surprised gasp from Lilith. ¡°What was that for?!¡± She asked all of the sudden, until I pulled the sword back out, fresh blood dripping from its blade. ¡°And why the hell is the ground bleeding? You didn¡¯t tell me anything about that!¡± I focused my attention on the ground, where I had stabbed. The sword had sunken roughly a foot into the soil before I felt it stabbing into something else. ¡°Lilith¡­ we might have a problem.¡± I said as I once again began looking around. ¡°...Grim¡­ talk to me. What¡¯s going on?¡± My mind was racing at a mile a minute as I tried to process everything that was happening. I was sure that there wasn¡¯t anything like this in the game. This area wasn¡¯t supposed to have blood-red dirt, it was just a common ground texture. Of course, the only reason I remembered that was because of the bad end scene I got, when my character became a ¡®guardian¡¯ of the tree¡­ ¡°Oh fuck.¡± I muttered as realization hit me. ¡°Lilith, I need you to be very, very calm right now.¡± ¡°More calm than you are?¡± She asked, her nervous face showing a somewhat amused smile. ¡°Yes. Way more calm than me.¡± I answered seriously, causing her to gulp in response. ¡°Now¡­ I¡¯m going to ask you a few questions.¡± She seemed confused, but nodded her head. I could see her brand slowly lighting up on her hand as she glanced around, as if expecting an ambush. ¡°First¡­ What are the odds that nobody would have found the World Tree before us? I¡¯m not talking only recent history¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re¡­ about three or four days from the nearest town¡­ Obviously some people would explore the forest. These roots alone are enough to get people¡¯s attention¡­ What are you getting at, Grim?¡± She asked, her eyes moving between the ground and the thick roots. ¡°And if these people found an unfamiliar fruit fallen onto the ground, what are the odds that they¡¯d eat it?¡± ¡°Grim, if this is just you trying to gently break it to me that we are standing on a pile of people buried alive, please stop.¡± Lilith shuddered looking down at the ground. ¡°Why aren¡¯t they rising up to fight us or anything? Doesn¡¯t the tree¡¯s fruit make you into guardians?¡± ¡°Fertilizer.¡± I said, recalling the feeling that had been transmitted through my sword when I stabbed. I did not feel the resistance of any armor, so either they were a mage, or they had none to begin with. ¡°Grim, bodies only become fertilizer when they decompose¡­ Or are you talking about something else¡­?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking that there¡¯s a reason why the tree is so magical, and the idea of ¡®drawing the magical power from the soil¡¯ might have a different meaning here¡­¡± I slowly walked over to Lilith, keeping a defensive posture as I glanced around, wanting to make sure the ¡®gardener¡¯ didn¡¯t show up. ¡°If I had to guess¡­ He crushes them, and like any dog with a bone, he buries them in his backyard. Their bodies heal misshapen with the ground pressing down on them, making them unable to push their way back out.¡± ¡°Grim, these are bad thoughts you¡¯re having, and I don¡¯t like them. Can we please go fight the giant wolf thing so I can pick up a couple branches and we can die already? I really don¡¯t want to stay in this forest anymore.¡± Lilith moved behind me, lightly grabbing my arm as she spoke. ¡°Oh, I¡¯d like to¡­ But I think we might have been a bit too loud.¡± I smiled grimly. Now that I focused, I could smell the scent of blood faintly in the air. I could feel the ground shaking ever so slightly beneath my feet. ¡°He¡¯s coming.¡± ¡°But we haven¡¯t made it to the base of the tree yet.¡± Lilith whispered, concern showing in her voice. ¡°Well, then I guess that it¡¯s time to try something new¡­ You ever been surfing?¡± When I asked that, Lilith shook her head, confused. ¡°Great¡­ me either.¡± As I said that, I dropped my sword flat on the ground. The width of the blade was roughly a foot and a half, so I moved to stand on top of it. ¡°Hop on, unless you want to be puppy chow.¡± ¡°Grim, if you want me to believe that you can carry the two of us on a flying sword, I¡¯m going to slap you. I might kiss you, but first I¡¯m going to slap you.¡± She said as she slowly stepped on the blade of the sword, her cheeks darkening as she realized what she said. ¡°Well¡­ I hope I can. Otherwise, this was a wasted purchase.¡± Saying that, I invoked my own magic brand, causing one of the swords to break off from the image, embedding itself into the blade of the sword beneath our feet. ¡°Hold on tight to me¡­ This is not going to be a steady flight.¡± No sooner had I finished speaking then I found her arms hastily wrapping around my waist, holding herself close to me. I had to distract myself from the feeling of softness on my back when I felt the ground shaking again, a bit stronger this time. ¡°Lift¡­¡± I commanded, focusing on my magic. Slowly, the sword began lifting up off the ground. Lilith almost stumbled slightly, but it seemed like my feet were glued to its surface. Realizing that this wasn¡¯t fast enough, I made the second sword in my brand join the first, using my full power to control the weapon. Almost instantly, the sword shot rapidly into the air, drawing a surprised scream from Lilith. Looking ahead, I saw the fenrir charging towards our location. It was not just some large dog¡­ It was a huge dog. Its fur was pitch black, its eyes blood red as they locked onto us. Even though we had flown over twenty meters into the air, we were still barely eye level with it. Judging the distance, it seemed to be almost two miles away, but that was almost nothing to a creature of its size and speed. Unfortunately¡­ my magic could only be used for so long. ¡°Lilith¡­ hand on very tight. I¡¯m about to see how fast we can go.¡± I heard a faint whimper from behind me as I said that, but I couldn¡¯t spare any attention for that at the moment. Focusing all of my attention on the sword beneath our feet, I commanded it to fly forward and up. Our target was well behind the giant wolf, one of the branches of the World Tree. And with that target in mind, we shot off like a rocket, moving every bit as quickly as the fenrir. In almost no time, it was below us, jumping up and trying to reach us with its claws. Reaching back and holding onto Lilith, I abruptly changed our direction to dodge the attack, almost causing her to fly off from the sword in the process. ¡°Grim I haaaate yoooouuuu!!!¡± She cried out, her legs hanging off the side of the sword. Drops of blood fell down from her leg where it had been cut from hitting the blade. ¡°Sorry!¡± I called down to her, still holding on tight. ¡°We¡¯re almost there!¡± And sure enough, by the time I finished saying that, we had arrived at the branch, and we abruptly slowed down. This of course caused her to cut herself on the sword again, letting out a pained whimper as she fell onto the branch below, its size even bigger than the fenrir. ¡°You get what we need, and I¡¯ll distract him.¡± As much as I wanted to help her, she was the one that knew healing magic, and I was the one that had to fight the giant mythological doomsday wolf. Abruptly turning around, I caused the greatsword beneath my feet to launch me at the wolf again, before it shattered into a bloody mist, returning to my armory. Now, I was free-falling towards a very angry looking wolf that was bigger than my old house. ¡°This better work¡­¡± I muttered to myself, the bloody mist reforming into two arrows. Each arrow was then imbued with brand, and flew beneath my feet to correct my course slightly. Only when I was sure that I was flying directly towards the mouth of the beast did the arrows come out from under me. ¡°Piercing volley, spiral bolt.¡± I muttered two skill names, one for each arrow. The brand on the arrows glowed a bloody red as they shot out ahead of me, spinning violently. The arrowhead currently looked like drills, each one aimed at one of the fenrir¡¯s eyes. Naturally, that was the only spot of the wolf that I could hurt with an arrow, so I had to try! Unfortunately, this was not an entirely mindless beast, and it slowed its charge just enough to lower its head, the arrows digging into its thick fur instead. By now, I was less than ten meters away from it, and that distance was closing fast. I really hope you had enough time to at least grab a couple small branches by now! Once again, the bloody mist formed around my body, again turning into the previously discarded greatsword. Using my descending momentum, I brought the sword over my head and prepared the only skill I thought would help in this situation. ¡°Mountain¡­. Cleaver!¡± My magic was extremely limited right now, so there was no way I could lead it on a prolonged chase. My only shot was to put as much power as I could into one attack. So¡­ naturally, using myself as a living bullet, falling at terminal velocity and swinging a giant lump of metal is the most damaging move I could do. Unfortunately, this damage went both ways. When my sword landed on its head, I could feel the entire sword shaking. My hands and arms immediately shattered, before the rest of me crashed into the fenrir as well. I could only feel a brief moment of intense pain before everything faded away. Well¡­ at least the next floor won¡¯t be as bad. Chapter 14: Deadbeat I wasn¡¯t sure how long had passed since I died, but eventually I awoke once again. I could feel the soft grass against my back, the evening sun shining on my face. After slowly sitting up, I looked down at my hands, finding my arms healed from the previous fight. Sadly, it seems like I had lost my grip on the greatsword just before I died, seeing as how it was not anywhere near me. Shaking my head, I glanced around to find my location. If memory serves, this looked to be the ninth layer, so I should be able to find my way. However, the most important thing was to locate Lilith first. Likely due to not many people actually dying in this location on the eighth layer, this isn¡¯t a very popular location for predators, but that doesn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t get unlucky. Hopefully I wasn¡¯t turned around when I fell. I thought to myself, before turning to where my back had been facing after I stood up and walking. Assuming that this was the right direction, I should be able to see her soon. Just in case, I pulled out one of my swords and began calling her name. ¡°Lilith! Lilith!¡± As I just woke up, I knew that she probably hadn¡¯t awakened herself yet, but there was a good chance of my shouts waking her if I grew close to her. And sure enough, after a few minutes of walking, I saw her slowly sitting up within the grass, just a short distance away from the path I was walking. Her dress was torn slightly along the side, and she had her arms wrapped tightly around a thick branch, one hand clutching a large piece of amber. Though her wounds had healed, I could see a bit of dried blood along her fingers. It was then that I realized that, in our haste, I had forgotten to give her the pick to retrieve the amber. Had she pried it out with her bare hands? ¡°Lilith!¡± I called out one more time, rushing over towards her. Her groggy expression suddenly seemed to wake up at this shout, and she turned her head abruptly to look in my direction. ¡°Oh, thank goodness.¡± She said with a relieved sigh. ¡°I was worried we might have died too far apart and gotten separated.¡± I shook my head when she said that. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t seem like that happened. And¡­ sorry about forgetting the pick.¡± I apologized, glancing down to her previously injured fingers. ¡°Was kind of a rushed situation.¡± She smiled at that, using the branch she had salvaged to push herself to her feet. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It just took a bit of magic and elbow grease. Though, I wasn¡¯t able to find a second branch before the fenrir showed up¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. We got the most important parts.¡± Honestly, the second branch would have just been used to make a bow, but judging from our encounters so far, I wouldn¡¯t be needing to use one much. Likely, it would have just ended up with Lilith anyways. ¡°Let¡¯s head to the nearest town so I can grab a carving knife, and then we can go ahead and move on.This layer doesn¡¯t have anything we need badly.¡± Lilith nodded her head slightly. ¡°Uhm¡­ Grim? You know this area from your time in the game, right? Do you happen to know what city we¡¯ll go to when we go down again? Or where the key is we need?¡± I raised my eyebrow slightly when I heard that, but figured she was asking due to the history she wasn¡¯t too keen on revealing. ¡°If nothing has changed, after we leave the city that¡¯s about a day¡¯s walk west of here, we should be arriving near Nashton on the tenth layer. As for the key¡­ It was in the hands of a traveling merchant, so first we¡¯ll need to find out where he is, if it plays out like it did in the game.¡± Hearing that we would be going to Nashton, Lilith let out a strange sigh of relief. ¡°Okay. Thanks.¡± ¡°Sure you can¡¯t talk about it?¡± I asked, though I didn¡¯t really hold much hope. Lilith had a conflicted expression on her face as she considered it, but after a moment she began speaking. ¡°We aren¡¯t going there either way, so it should be fine¡­ I told you that I was born on the tenth layer, right? And that I managed to smuggle myself back up there after dying, before I got in prison?¡± I nodded my head briefly, and she continued. ¡°Well¡­ There¡¯s a bit more to it than that.¡± As she spoke, she looked up at the sky, before beginning to walk to the west. Naturally, I followed after her. ¡°My dad is an abusive bastard and a drunk. As for my mom, she still loves him, and ignores anything bad that he does.¡± I had a bad idea I could see where this was going. ¡°Getting hit was pretty normal growing up, but one day it got really bad. I stayed out later than he wanted, and we got into an argument. He shoved me, and I ended up smacking my head on the corner of a table. The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed on the eleventh layer.¡± ¡°I was still a teenager back then, so without a home or a job, there wasn¡¯t any way for me to take care of myself. I sold what little I had on me when I died, and bought myself a dagger. After that, I left the city. I was too old for an orphanage to take me in, but too young to fend for myself.¡± She wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging herself tight as she talked.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°It didn¡¯t take long for me to die again. This time due to eating a poisoned mushroom of all things. From there, I ended up in some strange jungle, and managed to go a few months before I was mauled by a stoneclaw bear. After that, I was in a cave. That¡¯s where I learned that trick with the glowing root from before. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t able to find any water, and the roots didn¡¯t have any in them, so I died again about a week later.¡± I winced slightly as I imagined that, having to die from dehydration. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened at the fourteenth layer, but the next time I woke up I was on a flying island in the fifteenth. I got lucky, and managed to land somewhere safe, with a steady source of food and water. This time, I was determined to survive.¡± ¡°I lived on that island for three years before a merchant ship came by and saw the shelter I had built for myself. At first, they wanted to see if I was interested in trade, but when they saw me, they realized that I had nothing to barter with. Instead, I gave them my dagger, and the food I had saved up to pay for passage on their ship to one of the cities. Thankfully, they were willing to teach me while we traveled, so by the time we arrived I was able to find myself a job.¡± ¡°It had to have been another five years at least that I spent in that city, before I learned about the existence of the smuggling routes. I heard about someone being thrown into jail for smuggling themselves up from a lower floor, and figured that was my ticket home.¡± I glanced over at her, and noticed a somewhat sad smile on her face. ¡°It took a while to find someone willing to do the job, and cost me everything I owned, but I made my way all the way back to the tenth floor. I found my home, my parents still living there. Happy to finally see my mother again, I waited until my father had gone to work before showing myself to her, letting her know I was back. Yet¡­ she seemed scared to see me, even after I told her who I was.¡± ¡°She still let me stay the night, but not because I was welcomed¡­ While I was asleep, the police charged in to arrest me. She had called them as soon as I had left the room. As punishment for being smuggled through five floors, ¡®breaking into¡¯ my parent¡¯s home, and ¡®threatening¡¯ them to keep quiet, I was sentenced to life imprisonment on the first layer. I¡¯m not sure how long I spent there before they came and threw you in with me as my cellmate.¡± She turned to face me, her smile looking a bit less sad. ¡°Though I guess it wasn¡¯t really you yet, we did get along pretty good for a while. The whole jailbreak thing had been your idea in the first place. We spent weeks discussing it, and then on the day it was supposed to happen¡­ well, you know the rest from there.¡± I could see her eyes starting to water as she finished her story, turning her head away to look at the ground. ¡°So¡­ Even if that merchant or whatever is still in Brighton, can we just wait for him to go somewhere else to meet him? If we go back there, someone will probably recognize me, and we¡¯ll just be in more trouble.¡± I nodded my head slightly as I heard that request. ¡°Alright¡­ But, are you sure you don¡¯t want to get the claw from this level? If you change into a catwoman, there¡¯s basically no chance that anyone would know who you were anymore, right?¡± She laughed bitterly as she heard that. ¡°I¡¯m still me, Grim. I managed to survive on my own so far. I¡¯ll survive as who I am, and won¡¯t change my body to run away from it. Thanks for the concern, though. I¡¯ll be honest, I thought about changing when you told me about the claw. But, would that really fix anything? I mean, sure I¡¯d be able to avoid being spotted if we happened to visit my home city. But after that, I¡¯d be trapped in a body I didn¡¯t know, and I wouldn¡¯t be me anymore.¡± Seeing her shake her head, I smiled slightly. ¡°Alright. We should get a mortar and pestle if we can, before we leave this floor. I¡¯ll see if I can brew us one of those potions, and we¡¯ll have them on the next floor.¡± Hearing that, she curiously looked at me. ¡°Is there a limit on how many of those you can take? I mean¡­ if we keep duplicating them, we could potentially get an endless supply, right?¡± ¡°Not really¡­ I mean, we could get the supply, but we couldn¡¯t use it.¡± Though, that was something to think about. ¡°There is a limit to the use of floor items, and you can only use one of each. In the game, I thought it was just a bug, since each of them had the ¡®Use Limit: 1¡¯ note on them. After all, the duplication thing didn¡¯t exist in the game, so how were you supposed to get more than one in the first place? You even had to carefully choose which character you used it on.¡± Lilith knit her brows together as she heard that. ¡°Then¡­ how did you get strong enough to fight the creatures further down? It would take a lot more than some of these potions to fight a being like the fenrir.¡± ¡°Well, the effects are multiplicative.¡± I answered, rubbing the back of my head as we walked to get some of the grass out of my hair. ¡°So¡­ let¡¯s say that I brew us a potion that will raise our magic reserves by twenty percent. Then, later we get another item with a similar effect. Instead of raising us to a total of one hundred and forty percent, it would bring us to one hundred and forty-four percent. What¡¯s more, is that this stacks on top of our normal training. So, if we manage to train ourselves to double our original magic power, that one hundred and forty-four becomes two hundred and eighty-eight. The same thing applies with all the other enhancement type items.¡± She nodded her head a bit as she digested that information. ¡°Still, there must be quite a lot of items like that, if you are able to fight a being like the fenrir after two hundred layers.¡± ¡°There are. Most floors after the first twenty have some kind of enhancement item. Sometimes it¡¯s in addition to another artifact, and sometimes they simply replace the artifact. Either way, we¡¯re definitely going to want to get as many of them as we can, even if they might seem useless at the time.¡± She nodded her head again after I said that, agreeing with my decision. ¡°Alright. And Grim¡­ thanks for listening to my story. I haven¡¯t told it all to anyone before¡­¡± I saw a faint smile on her face as she said that, and returned it with one of my own.