I didn't bother looking for any monsters myself as I knew that I'd eventually find them regardless. Instead I whipped out my metal detecting compass and started following it's direction since that was one of my auxiliary purposes for this expedition. These floors had higher grade metals than the previous floors as was usual with the dungeon and was also more readily available. Naturally I wasn't going to pass up on the chance to stock up on these metals for my workshop. I also needed to find new materials to reforge Bell's weapons as I had noticed they were getting more and more worn down.-
I wasn't terribly surprised by this as they were made from the weapon of a level one variant goblin and had only lasted this long because of the materials innate durability and my techniques ability to enhance a materials durability to a limit and in a few cases beyond that. Still all things come to an end and it was clear to me that Bell was starting to outgrow these weapons so it was time for him to get an upgrade. If I managed to fight Amphisbaena and win without being put in a horrid state I intended to turn the fangs of the beast into materials for these new weapons.-
Not to say there weren't plenty of other choice bits on the big Lizzy that I also had my eye on such as the organs responsible for it's unique fire and mist as well as the bones and scales of it since it was a true dragon. Anyways my first encounter with monsters on the twenty fifth floor was a pack of four Harpies and a blue crab. The Harpies had tawny brown feathers and bare chests that if one were either perverted or innocent would likely serve as distractions as they jiggled with each wingbeat.-
I myself felt nothing at all since they were just clouds of juicy Excelia as far as I was concerned. The Harpies screeched and flew at me aggressively but I casually swiped out with the bladed side of my weapon and a bright flash of erasure flared into existence before fading as all of the things fell from the air with their bodies in at least two pieces. I hate fighting flying creatures so I didn't bother holding back to enjoy the conflict. Still that left the crab that was scuttling sideways towards me with it's gleaming red eyestalk firmly fixed on me.-
I flexed my cursed energy and frost manifested on the ground under my feet as the temperature dropped around me. The frost rapidly expanded from under me across the ground until the crabs first leg struck it and got stuck as the frost clung to it. It was rather amusing to watch the monster struggle to pull it's leg free only to fail to realize until it was too late that it's other legs were also now frozen in place as the frost crept up them nice and slowly.-
The crab that looked much like a fiddler crab scaled up many times and turned aqua blue slammed it's comically large pincer into the frost hoping to break free but only managed to crack the ground a little before the frost filled in those cracks as well. Soon I let up on the frosty technique and walked over to the monster that was now nearly frozen alive as a layer of ice bound it. I put my hand on the part of it's shell I had purposefully left uncovered before refining the shell and pincers of the beast while it slowly suffocated to death within the ice.-
Once that was done I walked to the front of the shell where the mouth parts were and grabbed the top part of the shell with my right hand and the bottom with my left before applying pressure until a loud "CRACK!" rang out as the shell parts were separated fully exposing the organs and magic stone of the monster. I reached into the hot gooey mess that was quivering and pulsing before ripping out the apple sized stone.-
The monster exploded into smoke that like always flowed into the seams of my mask/helm and armor before getting absorbed by my tattoos. The shell and pincers were left over after that now officially drops that i reshaped into a single dense orb of material that I then stored in my loot bag. Next up i moved over to the Harpies that I purposefully left unfrozen where I proceeded to refine the feathers of since they were highly prized by archers as fletching materials. The fact a couple of the Harpies were still alive despite being bisected made no difference in my actions and only served to make the satisfaction of ripping their stones out all the better.-
The fact I took pleasure in the suffering of my prey was something I noted and made mental plans to keep an eye on as that could easily turn into a desire to see other people harmed in an out of control addiction type manner. The source of this was easy to understand however as my cursed existence acting on my psyche passively. It wouldn't become a problem though unless I allowed it to become one. Once I collected my spoils I continued following my compasses signal to find that metal deposit.-
I didn't run into anymore monsters but instead finally reached one of the waterways that fed into the great fall. The water was murky and dark as there was no glowing crystals underneath it's surface to illuminate what was there. This was no problem for me though as I prepared for this and pulled out a dimly glowing golden colored perfectly spherical object the size of an orange. It had lines running all across it giving it an odd square like appearance as though many squares came together to create it.-
I pressed the topmost square and the entire orb burst into blindingly bright light as the many squares popped out in a very dramatic manner. I tossed the whole thing into the water and while it tumbled in the current as it sank it soon caught on the rocky bottom and illuminated a large portion of the waterway from below. I scoffed as I saw the dozens of Raider fish and other aquatic monsters lurking down beneath the surface, something they REALLY didn't like. They swarmed the tool to destroy it but I didn't let that pass and started striking them down with beams of erasure from my finger tip.
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