Congratulations. You are now a level 90 [Enchanter]

You have gained a new Skill: [Mending Enchant]

[Mending Enchant] [Rare]

Fully charged enchanted items created by you and on your person will attempt to fix any damage sustained as long as more than 70% of the enchant remains and functions.

“Fuck… really? That's what I get?”

I guess, sure, it's a useful addon to my enchants, but only if the item in question is made of fucking paper.

I place the piece of chitin armor back on the table. It has been a week since the battle and I have spent most of my time planning, organizing, enchanting, and fucking. Lots of fucking. Long fucking. Very long.

You would think stamina regeneration would be a stat that the system would provide, but nooo. It only provides maximum stamina, which is little use considering Nighmora has enough stamina regeneration to turn all of my experience moot.

“Are you ok?”

Frowning, I turn towards the door and find Thorous, gazing at me with a complicated look on her face as she stares at me and my naked body. Her scales tinge a redder shade than usual as her gaze focuses on the bruises across my body.

“Yes. I’ll heal. Lilly can no longer break my bones, but my flesh is a different story. Anyhow, are the preparations done?”

I watch Thorous closely, observing her eyes darting quickly across my body. An unexpected reaction considering my body’s stupid lust had been sated for the past week, so I should not be releasing any pheromones.

Then again, Gejan are weird. They don't necessarily find my body attractive really, but more so me and my capability. Strength. Orlan had explained it as a sexual want of a person. Gejan females don't necessarily find a body attractive initially until they see the person in question proving themself.

Though, that mostly applies to females. As for males, well, they're pretty much like humans. If it moves and has a hole, fuck it.

“Yes. We’re ready to leave at any time. Just know that Tessa is very upset over your decision.”

I sigh.

“I’ve told her, the next floors are going to be far more dangerous than this one. Her class doesn't excel in combat. She would be a liability, especially considering I’m leaving the army behind.”

“They're not happy either.”

I take a moment to stretch, wincing at the bruises.

“Look. I don't believe I can prevent an army from taking losses any further than here. As these floors get more and more dangerous, levels and classes become more and more important. As of right now, the army is too low level and I don't want to spend months trying to get the average level to one hundred fifty. The longer I wait, the stronger this dungeon gets, and the harder it becomes. That's why I'm only taking the strongest with me.”

Thorous nods. She agrees with my decision and fully understands it, but she still needs to inform the commander of what the [Soldiers], or more like [Veteran Soldiers] now, think of his decision.

“Anyhow. Let’s go.”

I move away from my table filled with all manner of crafting equipment and begin to head towards the exit.

“Should you not put something on?” Thorous asks and I stop, noticing her eyes trying , but failing to not stare at my crotch.

“Right. Clothes. Um, can you go upstairs and get my robe and stuff? Lilly has a death grip on it and I’ve failed to wake her up.”

Thorous nods and then rushes up the stairs. Minutes pass by as I begin to hear thumping, smacking, a bit of screaming followed by giggling, before Thorous begins walking down. Her enchanted chitin armor that covers most of her body looks to have scratch marks over its surface.

Without a word, she hands me my clothes and walks out.

I raise an eye, confused, before I put my clothes back on and quickly make my way towards the meeting point.

The majority of the city population is waiting. All of them know where we are going, and all of them begin cheering. I make my way through the mob of people and arrive at the entrance. My team and two undead wait patiently for me on top of Peter. They carry supplies on their backs while wearing the best crafted and enchanted armor that we’ve managed to create.

I look at them all. Jessica stands with her usual robes that now have chitin sewn into it. It makes her look bulky, but it should allow a slightly better amount of protection. On her waist is my hammer that I enchanted for her. It’s rather useless now. The electrical charge is much too weak to affect Gejan whose scales have a natural resistance to spells.

Then we have Darrow, someone who has surpassed level hundred fifty in an amazingly short amount of time. Oddly enough, he has even grown physically larger, which had pissed his mother off as she had to make a new set of armor for him.

Next to Darrow, we have Orlan. He is easily one of the strongest people here and arguably has the strongest single target non-magical attack at my disposal.

Finally, we have Thorous and her father, Aldonis. Both are ready and waiting. A new sword is now attached to Aldonis' back, one which glitters from the large quantity of crystal used to create it. The same can be said about Thorous’ own weapons, which glint dangerously as well.

It is a small group, but they are elites with the levels to take on many dangers.

I walk towards them and jump on top of Peter's prostrated body. When I arrive, Peter stands up and the crowd begins to cheer even louder. Looking back, I find both Nighmora and Tessa on the walls. They are waving, though Tessa looks to be showing me the middle finger.

“Alright, Peter. Let's get going.”

I kneel down and grab hold of Peter's hairs. The others do the same. Jessica orders Mule to grab hold of Joker since the undead would find it difficult.

After a moment, Peter accelerates. We rush past the sands, quickly arriving at the base of the mountain and the entrance. I squint, finding a dozen Mermeke standing unnaturally still. They don't move as we get closer. When we arrive, they do not even react to Peter.

“Something seems wrong,” exclaims Aldonis, his hand already at the hilt of his sword. He looks around, wary. The Mermeke look weak, but that is no reason to let down your guard.

“Look,” Jessica says, pointing at the entrance. I follow her finger and find Alba sitting under the shade of the entrance.

“Fuck,” I say, realizing that she disobeyed my orders. She was to stay in the city and help Nighmora level and run the populace.

With a shake of my head, we descend from Peter and walk to the entrance.

Alba gives me a smile.

I give her a glare.

She continues to give me a smile.

“I told you to stay in the city.”

She shrugs, “You did. It’s a shame I didn’t want to.”

I groan. I really don't understand the Centauress and why she is following me. I can't exactly force her to stay since she is an ally and has yet to cause me any notable distress. Any attempts would be left with her following me behind and needlessly risking her life.

“You’re going to follow me regardless of what I say. Correct?”

She nods and I sigh.

“Fine. Whatever. Let's just get going to the seventh floor. Darrow, take point.”

The big armored Gejan nods as he enters the cave that is barely wide enough for his body. We all follow behind. Once deep enough, I break my connection with almost all of my undead. Since I can't take them with me due to size problems, then they are useless mana drains. I feel the connections become cut and my mana regen nears its normal amount.

Half a day. That is how long we had descended. A good twelve hours of walking downward continuously. Boring is an understatement. But, eventually, we reach the end, and the first sense to notice this is smell.

“I smell water. I think. It smells different though,” Alba first exclaims.

I take a good whiff next and realise what she is talking about.

“It's saltwater.”

They look at me, confused, except for Jessica. So far, all the water in the dungeon has been freshwater. Until now.

A light begins to shine in the distance and after a few minutes, we finally enter the seventh floor.

“Well then. I was not expecting this in the dungeon. Granted, it makes sense, but…”

I look around in a slight daze. The seventh floor is a literal ocean. We are currently standing on what seems like an island stuck to the side of the wall. Over the ocean, no discernible landmarks are visible.

“This is amazing. I have never seen so much water.” Thorous exclaims, practically talking to the whole group. Even Jessica nods in bewilderment.

My hand goes to my chin as I start to focus my senses around me. Nothing on the island is currently alive, but underwater, there are monsters and fish. The whole ocean is filled with life.

“This tastes weird.”

I halt my senses and turn towards the speaker. Darrow is bent over and is cupping the water into his mouth.

“Oi. Idiot. Don't drink salt water!” I yell, but my words are too late as Darrow begins to puke right into the water.

I roll my eyes at his idiocy.

After puking a bit, he stands up and coughs.

“Hey. look. There are tiny monsters.”

I shake my head as he attempts to grab a fish in the water that are swarming around his puke.

I pull my senses out again, learning the environment and the species. So far, I can't even reach the bottom of the ocean. Then, I sense something large begin to move.

“Shit. Darrow, get the fuck out of the water! Now.”

Darrow, listening in, turns and runs out as a monster the size of a whale surfaces at the edge of where he had been trying to catch a fish. It looks like a whale, except instead of a blowhole, it has three long vines with teeth. The vines lash out and grab onto Darrow. Then, they begin to pull him into the water quickly.

“Shit. Cut tho-”

“[Dominate Monster]”

My words are cut short as the monster stops pulling. The vines, after a moment, let go. The monster then seems to become completely docile.

We all turn towards Alba who had used the skill.

“Did you just…?” I start to ask but let myself trail off.

She nods and I turn towards the monster.

“[Advanced Analyze]”

Crarkid level 108

Known for having a thick resilient hide and three protrusions on top of its body, the Crarkid is a slow and silent predator that is able to use its three protrusions to latch on to a target before pulling them in its mouth.

This monster is Dominated by Alba

Holy crap. That’s some scary shit. I mean, I can do the same with a dead body, but damn. She didn't even have to fight it. That is one scary ass skill.

“Darrow, are you okay?”

“Yes, Commander. It didn't get through my armor.”

I nod, still gazing at the huge monstrosity of a whale. A smile forms on my lips as I gaze at the monster.

“Alba, have it open its mouth.”

A second later, the Crarkid opens its mouth and I sigh loudly happily as though all of my problems were just solved.

Because they were. The monster has razor sharp teeth made for shredding their prey apart.

But… teeth.

Glorious pearly white teeth.

“Alba, keep its mouth open. Darrow, come to me. I’m going to need you to do something extremely dangerous and stupid.”

Darrow smiles, “Absolutely commander. Whatever you need.”

For the next several moments, they watch as Quasi orders Darrow to get inside the monster's mouth and to chip away at the teeth. A slow and dangerous process that has everyone but Quasi and Darrow sweating hard.