Danmachi – Infinite Mana System

[Chapter Size: 1895 Words.]
Lucius POV
Dungeon, Eighteenth Floor.

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Dungeon, Eighteenth Floor.

When I arrived in Rivira, the floor was completely dark as it was midnight when I arrived, and the city was quieter compared to what was happening in the afternoon. Without haste, I went to the same inn where I had stayed the night before and went to sleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I felt that the city was more bustling than yesterday afternoon. Just by listening to the streets from my room, many voices were excited. After a meal, I went out to see all the commotion and heard people talking about a new group that arrived on the floor after a dive where few can go, 1% of adventurers to be exact. I was happy to hear this, with even more sincerity when I found out who they were talking about. Despite our differences, their presence here is like a warning for me to go back a few floors at this moment.

On the street, there were high-class adventurers walking calmly, as if they were already used to this attention.
"Look, it's her! The sword princess!!!"
"They are returning from the deep floors..."
"How far did their expedition go?!" "The Loki family is so cool!"
"It's Captain Finn!" "The Amazons are so hot!" I tried to avoid my disgusted expression at these comments, made by fanboys and fangirls. I would be embarrassed to hear them act this way.

"Princess Riviera is so beautiful....OUCH! WHO ARE YOU? WHY DID YOU HIT ME!?"
Leaving the crowd with veins popping on my forehead, after hitting one of them, I headed towards my goal now. I was wearing different clothing now, leather armor that I bought at a quite bitter price, but I had no choice since my beautiful torn coat, I had to leave it at the inn.

Instead of continuing down to the nineteenth floor, I headed towards the stairs leading to the floors above us. Now that the Loki family has returned from the deep floors, Bell, Welf, and Lili must be getting into trouble because of my fencing teacher's group, Mikoto-Sensei. As a member of the Hestia family, I will have to rescue them. Entering the Goliath's room, that monster that showed no sign of spawning yet, I continued climbing the floors. Killing everything I encountered, it was on the sixteenth floor that I found my targets injured and in despair.

Bell POV
Dungeon, Fifteenth Floor.

It was nothing like I imagined when we entered the intermediate floors; we underestimated the place and found ourselves in danger as soon as that group of adventurers brought more monsters to corner us while fleeing.

I was trapped in my thoughts and was interrupted as Lili began to speak in the silence.
"If we want to survive, we have to reach the eighteenth floor..." Lili said.

"Hey, wait! Go down even further?" I said a bit worried.

"The enemies have become tougher!" Welf said, equally concerned.

"The eighteenth floor is one of the safest areas of the dungeon; we'll have a better chance going there than returning to the surface in our conditions!" Lili asserted and argued her point of view.

"But how are we going to get there?" I asked.

"We'll use the wall holes! The intermediate floors are full of them! It's easier to go down than up," Lili asserted.

"And the Goliath? The boss of the seventeenth floor?" Welf asked about the boss I've heard so much about.

"I heard that the Loki family defeated him when they descended a week ago. It takes time for him to respawn. If we go there, we can pass without facing the titan," she said.

"That's madness!" Welf asserted.

"It's an option; Bell is the leader, he makes the decision," Lili affirmed.

"With me?" I asked surprised by this.

"Yes, you decide, Bell," Welf said, waiting for a decision.

We are in danger here and in terrible conditions; it might be a slim chance of surviving if we can access the eighteenth floor!

"Then let's go!" I decided.

"What's that smell?!"

"It's to repel the monsters!"

"The smell is gone!"

"Hey, we're screwed!"

"Ahhhh!"

"Bell-san!"

I was now carrying Welf and Lili in my arms on the sixteenth floor; my whole body told me to give up, that it would be easier that way, but I wouldn't do it. I refused to die here and let them die too.

It was some time later that I began to hear sounds of monsters coming from ahead; I knew I could die here today. Five Minotaurs were coming our way. I left Lili and Welf unconscious in the corner and got into a fighting stance to face them, even without magic, I could deal with them!

As they were about to advance to attack finally, the corridor suddenly lit up, and bursts of fire began to be launched directly at the group of Minotaurs. They were consumed by the continuous fire after more than 20 shots; it happened in a few seconds, the group was easily killed with cries of pain.

'This is my magic!' I thought stunned. 'But I could never shoot like this, didn't know it's possible in the first place!' I couldn't help but be amazed by this display.

When the fire dissipated, I saw the person who saved us, and I was relieved that he was here to help me again, as always, he always appears in the most difficult moments.

He wasn't in his usual red and white cloak; he was dressed in leather armor at the moment and seemed to be coming from the lower floors. I couldn't help but smile; as strange as it is for him to be on these floors alone, even being level 01 still, if he's here, it'll be fine...

I realized that I passed out after thinking that.

Lucius POV

Same location.

Looking at the three unconscious ones, I sighed and walked over to them. It wasn't a very good state, making me even wonder if they would really make it to Rivira as canon.

[- Minor Heal!] I cast it differently.

I can concentrate the spell in the palm of my hand and heal others, as slow as it would be. However, my mana is inexhaustible anyway, so I tried my best to heal them.

After healing Lili and Welf, who were also unconscious in a corner and were the worst cases, I went to Bell right after, while asking Riekling to fetch water and food from the backpack to make them drink a little, even unconscious.

After that, I waited for any of them to wake up since I couldn't carry all three on my back and kill all the monsters in the next corridors at the same time.

"Mr. Lucius?!" Welf, who was the first to wake up after a while, was surprised to see me here, enveloping Bell in a green light.

"Hello, Welf. I see you finally woke up," I said calmly while sitting in a corner with Riekling.

"Are we still in the intermediates? Did you save and heal us?" he said surprised, looking around and then at his body wounds.

"I healed your injuries, but there's still exhaustion in your body, so don't exert yourself too much. Get supplies from Riekling over there." I pointed to where my goblin was taking things out of the backpack, like potions, food, and more water.

*Glub...* *Glub...* *...AHHHH*

"I needed that; I thought we would die here. I'm so happy to see you again, Mr. Lucius!" Welf said after drinking clean water while I laid Bell to rest next to a campfire I made.

"Please call me just Lucius, and I'm only doing my duty for the members of my family here," I said sincerely.

"But I can't help but be happy to see you again. I thought we were already dead!" he said with a truly relieved tone.

Shortly after, Lili and Bell woke up, one after the other. They explained to me why they were in that state, and we started heading for the eighteenth floor.

"So let's go down to the lower floors; it's better for you to recover, and I intend to do some things before going to the surface." I said to the group sitting in front of me, and no one protested.

As we passed the sixteenth and seventeenth floors, I took on all the fights while they stayed behind in case I needed help.

"HEY, are you really level 01?" Welf asked quite startled as the group saw me clearing the area with a medieval sword surrounded by electricity. I had to buy another one in Rivira since my katana was destroyed in my adventure on the nineteenth floor.

When I killed the last Minotaur, I looked at him after that question.

"I'm level 01, but I have spells that give me a boost in my stats and cut more easily with my lightning-encased sword..." I explained, as even being level one, he has seen various level twos in his family, and I am demonstrating a strength superior to Bell and any level 2 he has seen.
Bell and Lili were also surprised by how easily I dealt with all the monsters. As we went up to the seventeenth floor, I heard Bell muttering things like "I need to get stronger" all the time. That's good; I hope his growth improves, as I am stronger than him at the moment.

After spending some time facing all the monsters in the corridors, we finally entered the Boss room with the entire group, who was grateful for their journey becoming much easier after I found them.

"Lili was right; the boss didn't show up!" Welf said relieved.

"Don't celebrate yet, Welf; he's coming right now..." I said, making everyone widen their eyes as they paid attention to the whole room to see if I was telling the truth.

Suddenly, the room began to shake, and from the wall in a corner, a 15-meter giant started to appear in a shadow: Goliath. Bell, Welf, and Lili panicked when they saw this. I just waited, not wanting to let my chance evaporate when I finally managed to find this damn titan.

He started materializing out of the wall. It didn't take long to have half of his body out, and he started roaring, making me and everyone behind me cover our ears with the uncomfortable roar.

"What an annoying guy, screaming like that..." I muttered frustrated.

"What do we do now? Can we run while he's still coming out of the wall?" Lili shouted.

"You there! Stay at the entrance of the room; I'll face him alone..." I said with a smile as I looked at that titan stepping into the room for the first time. Finally, I'll have a quite worthy fight, even though I look like an ant ready to be stepped on by this monster. But I had a mission to accomplish!

[Intermediate Boss Mission: Defeat Goliath Alone on the Seventeenth Floor! | {Progress: 0/1} (0%) | {Reward: 100,000 Points.}]

Bell and the others were surprised by my confidence, wondering if I was really serious.

"He finally showed up." I thought.

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