Warm water cascaded from the silver showerhead, filling me with vitality that had vanished after fighting orcs in a dirty jungle for six hours. I reached for the expensive raspberry soap that Celestia had discounted me with a nice vanilla and berry shampoo set.
“Ahhh… it feels so good.”
All the fatigue faded along with the steamy and tingling sensation as I washed the dirty layer of skin into the drain.
The water looked so groggy with sweat and mud that it made it a dull brown for several minutes before turning clear with the soap suds. After scrubbing myself clean, I used the shampoo to wash away all the oil and grime from my hair.
It was a shame since the girls liked how wild it looked while fighting. Yet my hygiene came first—I peeled back my little brother, cleaned him well, and finally left the shower, wearing a small towel over my hips and sitting on the black chair in the expensive room.
“It seems I was too stingy in the past; quality costs money, and with high quality comes improved quality of life.”
While taking a moment to relax, my bracelet began to vibrate, indicating a call. I didn’t recognise the number but didn’t mind accepting it anyway—leaning back in the chair, a wave of warmth and exhaustion flooded my body.
“H-Hello… Is this Rai’s number?”
An unfamiliar female voice appeared, making me frown as I sat up straight again. The towel slipped off my hips, revealing my naughty brother, who twitched slightly, seeming to detect more prey. I slapped him, and he faded—sometimes, a woman wasn’t a target to aim for, is what I needed to teach him.
“Yes. Who is this? You have my number.”
“Ah… It’s Zveta, and when you were speaking, I noticed you left it on public on your guild profile.”
…
Oh…
I am still a bit lax regarding privacy—however, since it’s done, let’s accept it and learn for the future. Wait… How can she call me when it’s my number from my world? Is there some super expensive cost to call me!?
“I see, well, not that it matters. Is there something you need? Also, doesn’t this cost you lots of money to call me? We live in different worlds; how did the call connect anyway?”
“No, it doesn’t cost me anything. This call is through our guild chat system—we can communicate across worlds using its features if we’re members of the same group.”
“Is that so…”
“Ah, well, there is a one gold coin cost for all calls, but the duration is up to an hour.”
“That’s quite cheap… I suppose being able to call home without paying thousands would appeal to adventurers.”
“Yeah… um… so… about earlier today, are you free tonight? We could maybe grab dinner together.
She didn’t seem clingy like before, and her voice returned to the more mature Zveta, so I didn’t see a problem—the only floor I was going to do now was the twenty-fifth boss floor, so after that would be fine.
The girls entered the dungeon to catch me up anyway; only Mother and Aki seemed to need me, but they rearranged our meeting to tomorrow when I mentioned work.
Should I accept? What if she becomes weird… No, didn’t I save her life? A meal should be the least she does. Let’s go—maybe it will give her peace of mind.
“No problem. I am about to fight the boss on the twenty-fifth floor, and then I’ll call you when done. Is that okay?”
“Eh? You just said twenty-fifth…. how!?” frёewebnoѵēl.com
Her voice was amusingly cute and surprised, reminding me of Celestia’s when I told her how fast I cleared the floors. I smiled at the memory and decided to tease her.
“Well… I am strong, you know,”
“Um… yes… sorry.”
She apologised, sounding depressed—I felt bad remembering her dead companions, so I changed the topic quickly.
“Anyway, I’ll call you back after finishing the mid-boss, okay?”
“Mmm… be careful, the bosses after the first ten floors are completely different.”
Click
I hung up the phone and relaxed again—Zveta was an interesting girl, but her warning me seemed best for others, so I just shrugged it off and began to get dressed, leaving the inn towards the next floor.
The inn was booked for a week anyway.
With my hands inside my pockets, I walked across to the portal while waving at the bored-looking Celestia—she brightened up when she saw me for a moment before her eyes lowered.
Hmm… what’s up with her?
“Hey Celestia, is everything okay?”
“Ah… yep, just a lot of people recently; some nobles booked rooms for their guilds and are causing trouble.”
“Nobles, huh… Well, try to bear it—soon, I’ll take you out for a meal, haha!”
She looked at me with strange eyes before a smirk came to her lips. “Fufu, I don’t come cheap, you know?”
Celestia teased me playfully, so I winked at her before entering the portal towards the twenty-fifth floor.
When I arrived at the mid-boss room—everything changed.
It was a broken-down arena covered in corpses, skulls and broken weapons… In the stands were countless orcs and monsters, all jeering at what seemed to be a dungeon seeker who was cleaved in half, his guts spilling onto the bloody ground while his top half crawled with his sword, trying to reach a health potion.
The crowd laughed, throwing rocks and rotten food at the dying man until he eventually died, and the large gate opened, revealing a massive orc wielding a bloodied axe dripping with fresh blood.
He walked out while grinning sadistically and lifted the dying adventurer’s body, raising it high. Then he threw it down into his mouth, eating him whole as he chewed loudly—bones cracking echoed throughout the arena.
“Welcome, adventurer. Do you wish to challenge me?”
His voice sounded monstrous, sending shivers down my spine—It was strange the entire dungeon was so different to what I expected, both the intelligence shown by this huge orc and the crowd who acted just like normal humans…
“How many challengers have fallen to you?”
“Hundreds, thousands… They all fall to me and become my meals… Hahaha… Don’t worry—I will make sure your corpse tastes delicious!”
…
What is this floor?
“Challenge or leave, human—my stomach growls for food.”
His strength was different—all his attributes seemed different from the floor below, and they were close to even with mine! This strange change is ridiculous. Wouldn’t normal groups be crushed if they just entered here!?
“I wonder how delicious orc meat is.” My sharp fangs showed as I grinned widely, feeling a sense of excitement filling my body, making my blood surge with the will to fight.
The orc used a huge weapon. Thus, I took out an iron greatsword and stepped into the arena—most of the goblins and orcs began to cheer, yelling insults at me while others yelled in excitement.
“Ha! Another weakling looks tasty!”
The orc grinned, licking his lips while approaching slowly—it was like facing a giant, almost three metres tall, bulging muscles rippling with power while carrying a bloodied battle axe that seemed to weigh nothing in his hands.
My heart pounded in my chest, and a smile grew on my lips—this orc reminded me of the time I faced that gang for the first time after taking part in underground boxing—they were much larger than me, a fifteen-year-old boy, yet…
I won.
In the same moment, both the orc and I rushed forward, his steps causing the ground to shudder, while mine were light and elegant, grasping my sword and swinging upwards towards him.
Clang!
Our blades met—power erupted, creating sparks, and we exchanged blows while grinning. The heavy strike shook our arms, numbing them as our weapons clashed repeatedly, neither backing down nor rushing forward aggressively.
Adrenaline rushed through my veins, causing my movements to become sharper and faster—each time our weapons met, they would cause small shockwaves to appear, blowing dirt and dust around us into a cloud.
“Tsk… this bastard is more skilled with weapons!” I groaned before letting flames build up in my left palm while the orc seemed to enter a rage, his body and muscles growing thicker and filled with veins pulsating wildly—our attacks became faster and stronger.
After building enough mana in my left hand, I blocked his powerful blow with one hand holding my blade and swung my left fist coated in raging flames directly into his chest.
Boom!
A loud explosion knocked the orc back—his thick chest was burnt with a fist imprint. Yet, the damage seemed minimal as he roared and charged forward, increasing his speed significantly and causing the wind to erupt around him violently.
“You annoying dog, die!”
He swung his axe downwards—the force behind it increased dramatically, forcing me to use both hands to block, yet even with all my strength, I was sent sliding back, my iron greatsword shattered into pierce as I grabbed another from my inventory.
Damn… His strength is too much.
My left arm was numb from blocking, so I held the new blade with my right hand alone, rushing forward to clash blades once more—our weapons slammed against each other continuously, creating loud explosions while I gathered flaming mana into my left palm again.
“Die!”
This time, I punched the orc’s face, knocking him back slightly as a few teeth shattered and his lips began to bleed—yet, he caught my arm and smashed me into the ground repeatedly, creating a small crater while laughing loudly.
“Pathetic dog—you dare think yourself a warrior!?”
His grip tightened, almost breaking the bones of my arm—blood dripped from his lips, but the orc just licked them before grabbing my leg, lifting me into the air and slamming me repeatedly into the ground again.
Pain rushed through my body while blood spurted from my mouth—he lifted me again, roaring as he prepared to slam me further, yet I smirked, coating my body in flames, burning his arm slightly as I freed myself, smashing his throat with my fist while falling.
“Gah!”
Blood gushed out as he coughed—I landed, kicking his axe away and stabbing my blade deep into his shoulder, causing the orc to roar in pain while staggering backwards, clutching his bleeding wound.
We both stood opposite, but why were we both smiling so happily?
I guess this would be a fun fight in my primal form.