Chương 38: 1-37 New encounters, old dangers

Josef knew it wouldn't make do to stick around after such a bold declaration, as no matter how angry most scalefolk and beastkin were with the people of Sanctum, that didn't hold true for everyone, especially the elves among the gathered survivors. So he and the brothers soon took their leave, before the surrounding confusion and shock could form into something else, and someone would get the unwise idea of starting a fight.

Naturally, it was also much more mysterious to walk off after making such a statement, and he now had a whole new identity with its own reputation to take care of. He figured that this would serve as a great start to his new infamy, as their path led them down to the next floor, leaving the safe room and its people behind.. More than the reputation of an anti-Sanctum healer, though, he gained something more tangible from his actions on the tenth floor, as the notifications vying for his attention reminded him.

Spell Upgrade: ☆☆ Regeneration (Pinnacle) -> ☆☆☆ Abundant Regeneration (Moderate) It only takes encouragement and a touch of magic, and the body will take care of itself. Allows to imbue the target with a much larger amount of restorative energy. Regeneration now adapts magic expenditure to the grade of injury. ☆☆☆☆ Greater Heal (Moderate) -> (Advanced) Sometimes all it takes is a single touch and a bit of goodwill. Improves the ability to guide the growth of new tissue.

It was a shame that all that healing wasn't enough for reaching a new level, but considering the wounds he mended were ones he had already treated many times before, and few of the people there were around his own level, it didn't surprise him when he gained too little. Aside from bosses far above his level, and first time breakthroughs in healing, progress was usually more of a slow grind.

As it turned out, healing close to a hundred people served as exactly the type of stepping stone Josef needed to push his Regeneration spell to the next level. The upgrade itself lent itself very well to the way he usually used this spell, both as passive life insurance during battle and an efficient method to heal people with varying grades of non-lethal injuries. Given enough time, it could probably heal anything short of missing limbs and organs.

Which is where his other healing spell came in, offering the ability to restore even the most grievous losses a body could endure, as long as he had both the mana and the knowledge to accomplish the task. That, or an even more abundant amount of mana to make up for his own shortcomings. With these improvements, and his even larger resource pool, he wondered if he could now save someone like that poor woman in that alley…

No, he couldn't allow his mind to drift back to that place, when his mood had barely recovered after seeing the many thankful faces of the people he had just healed. He had to focus on what still awaited him ahead, instead of allowing his mind to wander into the past.

"That was awesome!" Zippa celebrated as they finally made it deep enough into the next floor to ensure that the magic layers of the dungeon once more separated them from other adventurers.

"Did you see their faces, Jo? Their jaws were practically on the floor! That one guy who lost half his fingers was crying after you were done with him." His friend was so happy, in fact, that he promptly swept Josef off his feet in a crushing bear hug. Or should he call it a lizard hug? Dino hug rolled nicely off the tongue, even if it wasn't completely accurate. Then again, the term 'dinosaur' probably wasn't even a thing here. So maybe dragon hug?

That could kinda work, though it might just count as blasphemous or something, considering the standing of dragons. One of the many things he would have to workshop when he had some time for himself. Finally, as his thoughts threatened to fade into inky darkness, his scaly assailant finally released the chokehold on his ribcage and allowed the return of sweet air to his lungs. Relatively speaking, because the whole place continued to stink like the sewer it was.

"It was Zip, it was." He agreed flatly, trying to assess if he needed to cast a healing spell on himself. In fact, he quickly flooded his channels with healing energy, allowing it to carry away the ache in his ribs. This approach wasn't half bad as a magical painkiller.

"I still don't know if it was the best idea to go public like that, but I couldn't just pass by and ignore them all. I'd not be able to forgive myself if I did."

"... You did well, Josef." It was Bezzo's agreement that surprised him, and apparently even Zippa, the most.

"Maybe my brother was right about you, after all." He didn't know what the younger of the siblings meant by that, but his older brother gleamed when he heard those words.

"Told you so!" However, before he could pry into what they were both talking about, they came across their first group of monsters, containing over a dozen Rachse, and three new creatures he hadn't seen before. Adult Rachse - Level 23 The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Maybe not quite as new as he had first thought, but the differences between the adult and juvenile stages of these creatures were large enough that Josef wouldn't have recognized a connection between them by appearances alone. Whereas the younger monsters were short, pudgy things the size of a poodle, with some scales and a ratlike head, the adults made for a slightly more imposing view.

Sure, they were still ugly as the night, but now they had some size and bulk to them, reaching the same stature as a large dog, and their scales were sprawled out in an orderly pattern, with the fur growing neatly in between. Their heads were almost disproportionately large, with a long snout full of large, crooked teeth, giving the appearance of a gator's head, if it weren't for all the fur on their scalps.

Josef's first instinct was to land a preemptive strike, taking out the larger monsters before they could get up to any funny business, but blinking into the middle of an encounter was a terrible idea if he didn't know the abilities of the enemies he faced. Instead, he turned to the brothers for input, as these were most likely monsters that formerly lived on floors 20 to 30, and the brothers should still have information on those. Getting the hint from his look, Bezzo gave him a rundown of the new enemy.

"The big ones order the little ones around, trying to surround their targets.. They are much smarter now and deceptively fast and strong, so don't get caught out by one." Pack tactics with much stronger leaders, aiming for the moment you let your guard down, is what Josef took away from that. He'd try not to get caught, as this was the point where he could actually drag down the entire group if he made a mistake.

Somewhere along these coming floors were the encounters that had turned his friends around before, so if they were to make it all the way through, then he would have to contribute enough to push things further. He immediately decided to put his new Abundant Regeneration to the test, giving all three of them an instance of the spell that was charged with far more mana than his old spell would have allowed, using a little over 300 mana within seconds, finishing just before the first contact between their groups.

They literally glowed under the spell's influence, as they threw themselves into the furry mass. Zippa was once more the most direct, showing a greater use of fire than he had before, as his very scales ignited in a burning orange glow, eliciting painful shrieks from any Rachse that tried to jump on him. The smell of burnt fur and flesh spread quickly as he brutally clawed his way towards the closest adult specimen, engaging into an almost funny cat-and-mouse game as he tried to get a hold of the creature.

Whereas that approach made numbers mostly irrelevant, destroying the usual advantage of pack tactics, his brother Bezzo was much more methodical in his approach, entering a deadly dance with the creatures. Instead of trying to reach one of the adults, he kept pulling back, dodging bites while punishing attacks with lethal precision, either killing the ordinary Rachse in one strike or leaving them bleeding and poisoned, rendering them almost irrelevant to the fight.

Josef could see how this tactic would usually pan out for them, with Zippa brutally striking at the leaders, while his brother cut down the masses. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise him if the older brother could finish this kind of fight on his own, as his breath would surely destroy the smaller creatures. Then again, he didn't know how long that kind of assault could continue before he ran out of mana. Still, it made for an impressive sight.

However, it also meant that he now had the attention of the remaining two adult Rachse, as well as all the smaller ones that didn't try to chase after Bezzo. There was a look in the eyes of the larger predators, as if they had just spotted a weak link, ready to be torn open, as drool dripped from their snarling mouths. With a sound that was reminiscent of a high pitched bark, they sent the smaller monsters at Josef as they themselves began to circle around him.

Something in him took offense at that display, treating him like prey. He would show those fuckers that they had picked on the wrong kind of healer. Preparing his body with a hefty dose of earth affinity mana, he met his assailants head on, in a similar but less effective display as Zippa. With swings and kicks he broke the bodies of the Rachse that dared to attack him, making sure to target the ones that tried to attach themselves to his legs to drag him down.

Dusty was his steady helper in this task, busily tearing at anyone who dared to bite his summoner. Not that they had much of a chance to accomplish that, as his solid-as-rock legs wouldn't buckle easily. However, it was better to be safe than sorry, so he didn't let them accumulate. What he couldn't keep up with in this turmoil was the adults, though, which one of them finally managed to exploit as it launched itself on his back, trying to bite down on his neck from behind.

It was painful, not as much as being submerged in the king slime, but bad enough to elicit a scream from him. Fortunately, the creature wasn't able to bite in deep, as the solidity granted by his earth mana prevented it from truly capitalizing on this attack. More so, under the effect of Abundant Regeneration kicking in, the bite marks immediately tried to heal around the invading fangs, creating an awkward stalemate that had Josef completely grossed out. The creature had gotten fucking stuck in his flesh.

Reconsidering the idea to pummel the monster on his back until it would let go, he instead opted to exploit the common weakness of most flesh and blood creatures, their need to breathe. Getting rid of the earth mana in one of his arms, by mercilessly striking with his elbow behind him, driving the air from the beast's lungs, he quickly called upon his water affinity, grasped its muzzle, and created a water sphere over its head.

It wasn't even the fully formed spell, but it would do the job, as the creature was now trapped between a rock and a wet grave. Even with Dusty's help, keeping the remaining Rachse away as he did so proved to be busy work, but was soon made easier as Bezzo joined them, having been freed up as most juveniles had followed their leader's command to engage the healer. Something that the evasive lizard immediately knew how to capitalize on, scratching the remaining adult and joining for a more direct assault.

As one drowned, helplessly thrashing against Josef's grasp, and another finally burned to cinder in Zippa's fiery claws, the last one didn't last long as the poison in its body continued to slow it down. Finally, after a bit more cleanup of the suicidally angry juveniles, their first fight on floor 11 completed.

It was uncomfortable how much pressure Josef had to take in this encounter, but his defenses and healing held up well in the end, and Bezzo seemed to enjoy the shift in his usual duo approach to such a fight, as he remarked. Zippa was only a little out of breath, having used a lot of mana, but was otherwise fine. However, before they could engage in a post-battle discussion, dig out the remaining teeth in Josef's neck, or even look at new notifications, an unexpected event caught their attention.

Distant and echoing, it was without a doubt a scream. They were not alone on this layer.