Light

Dark

Light overflows from the Spirit Stone.

The Chaotic Spirit Stone, that was as if stars were scattered inside of it, pulsed and life burned in it.

The radiance burns ever so brighter, and melts.

Lights of many colors overflow from the stone, and with a mysterious pulsation, the heat emanating from the stone increases as if it were alive.

This is my second time using it, butit is like I am giving life to a stone (Hikaru)

It truly is as if life is being poured into the stone, and the Spirit Energy thats being sucked out from my body cant even compare to what I use with a normal Spirit Ability.

The hot and overflowing light gathered, and swelled densely.

I let go of the stone.

The stone began to knit a green statue, and shaped into the single form of a monster.

The Mantis Zombie stood silently there.

The swaying of Spirit Energy rising up must be because of the ability.

When I undo Darkness Fog, the Mantis begins to walk slowly to the Lizardman.

The Lizardman soon takes a battle stance.

I dont know what logic works behind it, but it seems like it understands that the Mantis Zombie is an enemy. Looks like I cant use this as a way to fake that they are both comrades, and then bam! get them by surprise.

The two monsters begin close range combat, and in that instant

[Shadow Bind]! (Hikaru)

The Lizardman had its body restrained from the shadow tentacles, and with a combo attack from the Mantiss sickles, it collapsed in a second, and changed into a Spirit Stone.

It was so anti-climatic that I ended up a bit surprised by the result, but the Mantis has higher individual battle power than Rifreya.

Turning it around, that would mean that if the team of me and the Mantis doesnt bring a result like this, it would be impossible to come down to the 4th Floor with Rifreya. It is as simple as that.

The battle ended, but the Mantis Zombie was still there.

At the time with the Flame Orangutan, it disappeared really fast, but maybe because my Spirit Abilities themselves have gone up, or because the dungeon is a special environment, the Ability has been strengthened.

Whichever the case, they are reliable comrades.

I pick up my shortsword and the Spirit Stone of the Lizardman, and check my surroundings with Dark Sense.

Theres a Giant Crab over there. Lets go. (Hikaru)

The Mantis is super silent, but it looks like my words are getting through, it is silently following.

And then, even though we havent practiced in battle at all, our coordination was perfect. We easily defeat a Giant Crab.

Hmm, is it because I created this undead? (Hikaru)

Most likely, even if I dont say it out loud, my intentions are transmitted to it.

You could say thats quite the big advantage in a battle where theres changes at every second.

After that, we defeated a number of Lizardmen and Giant Crabs, but it seems like theres only those guys and Slimes close to the stairs.

The remaining monsters that show up in this floor are: Sahagin, Mantis, Lamia, and Scylla. I wanted to fight a bit with the Sahagin, but they are half-fish, so they probably hide inside the water.

Also, I was scared to encounter a Scylla if I were to go too deep.

Scyllas are the strongest monsters in the 4th Floor.

I wouldnt be able to win against it even if it were to be doing a handstand.

WellI am already pushing myself to the brim though. (Hikaru)

Even when I mutter this, the Mantis Zombie doesnt respond. A loyal warrior that exists only for my sake. The Dark Element is honestly pretty plain, but I once again confirmed that the 8th Ability really is a special one.

The Mantis Zombie disappeared on the 6th battle against a monster.

It has been around 1 hour I suppose. You could say that was quite the valuable support for 1 Chaotic Spirit Stone. It isnt the 8th hidden ability for nothing.

By the way, I got one Chaotic Spirit Stone from the Lizardman I defeated together with the Mantis. When things get bad, I can call it.

An ability that can call a proper warrior (moreover, disposable!); the value of it is unmeasureable.

It has begun getting cold I kind of understand what Rifreya said. Theres the temperature as well, but it is mostly the water spraying from the waterfall, raining around and dampening my clothes. (Hikaru)

Since coming to the 4th Floor, I have only been exploring the vicinity of the stairs, and yet, my clothes are completely wet, and combined with the low temperature of the surroundings, my body has gotten pretty cold.

I relied on the Mantis Zombie when it came to the battle itself, so theres also the fact that I havent moved my body much.

I might catch a cold like this. Going down from a fever in the Viewer Count Race wouldnt even serve as a good joke.

Well, I do have Disease Resistance, and I could buy some type of potion if something happens, but I should change clothes just in case.

I use Dark Sense to confirm if theres any monsters around, and change into my spare clothes.

Rifreya said Fire or Water Spirit Abilities were necessary here. They cant just go changing every instance they get wet, so they must be dealing with the water with Fire or Water Spirit Abilities.

I dont know if theres such abilities in the fire and water elements though.

When I checked in the Status Board, only 1 and a half hours had passed since I came to the 4th Floor.

I want to continue hunting for at least 4 hours more.

I am fine with hunting alone, but I am thinking of using Create Undead once more in order to get accustomed to the 4th Floor. (Hikaru)

I bring out the Chaotic Spirit Stone of the Lizardman.

[Create: Undead]! (Hikaru)

The sparkling chaotic light brings back the Lizardman.

A muscular warrior. It is mysterious how it is equipped with a sword and shield, but that must be how monsters work.

Now then, theres a time limit with undead, so I will keep going. (Hikaru)

I dont think I will be able to maintain the Lizardman Zombie for long.

It would be handy for short decisive battles, but using it while moving on fields would be wasteful. Chaotic Spirit Stones rarely show up, but judging from the probabilities, the chances of strong mixed monsters like Lizardmen and Mantises dropping them are decently high.

I utilize Dark Sense as I go deeper and deeper.

Lizardmen 2no, 3. That does look dangerous. (Hikaru)

With 2, that doesnt really mean it is 2 times stronger.

It normally gets several times more troublesome.

Make that 3 and the chances of losing shoot up.

Even Ogres and Trolls had at most 2, and yet, to think 3 would pop up with Lizardmen

(I will defeat 1 and the other onethe Undead Lizardman will defeat it. Can we defeat the last one with the momentum?) (Hikaru)

I formed that plan.

No, it isnt such a cool thing like a plan. You could even say this is super rough on the edges and riddled with holes.

[Darkness Fog]! (Hikaru)

Theres no choice of not fighting.

If I were alone, I would avoid it, but I have the Undead Lizardman with me. If I run here, there would be no point of using the Chaotic Spirit Stone.

I advance through the darkness together with the Lizardman.

It was the same with the Undead Mantis, but it looks like even the undead that I create can see inside the darkness. They are properly following me, so some sort of Spirit Energy path might be linking us.

A warrior that can see in the darkness is practically invincible, but theres the chance that it is simply following me closeby. Having it fight inside the darkness would be a bit too risky. I should have tested it out on weak monsters.

One of them is slightly separated from the others, so I will aim for that one. (Hikaru)

It is only distanced from the others by around 10 meters, but that difference is big.

The sounds of the waterfall echoing in the cave were hiding the sounds of our footsteps and breathing. The 4th Floor is overall dark; theres a mysterious light source close to the waterfall, so it is as bright as the 1st Floor, but if we go into the side tunnels, it is as dark as the 2nd Floor.

In other words, I can almost perfectly hide my figure with Darkness Fog.

A single mistake in judgment here wont be forgiven.

My opponent is superior here. I have to bring out the most advantage of a preemptive strike here.

[Summon: Night Bug]. (Hikaru)

I create bugs, and when the 3 Lizardmen were confused, I sink the 3 into the Darkness Fog. The Lizardmen are the type that cant deal with darkness, so this will at least buy a few seconds.

[Shadow Bind]! (Hikaru)

At the same time as I bring out one from the darkness, Bind.

The undead doesnt miss a single beat in cutting the Spirit Vein center.

(One!) (Hikaru)

Bind cant be used in the time the effects of Bind still remain, but the story is different if the enemy dies -it can be used immediately after. Approaching the Lizardmen without Bind is -honestly speaking- too scary.

However, with this, it is now 2 vs 2.

The 2 Lizardmen were swinging their swords around at the Night Bugs, so it is dangerous to carelessly approach them.

I control the darkness even more, and bring one close by out of the darkness.

The battle against the undead began immediately.

They are both Lizardmen, but it can still instantly identify it as an enemy. Just what logic is at work here? Does it smell rotten or something?

[Shadow Bind]. (Hikaru)

The instant it made the motion of attacking, the tentacles jumping out from the darkness bind the limbs of the Lizardman.

No matter how robust of a monster it is, as long as a weak point exists, show one single second of an opening and you will get hit by a deadly attack.

With the stab of the undead, the second one perished, and a Spirit Stone dropped.

I will deal with the remaining one. (Hikaru)

I have the undead stay in place, hide in the darkness, and observe the Lizardman.

It still cant grasp the situation, and continues attacking the Night Bugs that are flying around.

The speed of its sword is sharp, and if I were to be hit directly by that, I would be split in half in an instant.

I am in the category of if I get hit, I will die on this floor.

But that goes the same for them. If I get a good hit in their weak point, I can defeat them in one hit as well.

Theres no reason I cant do this. The risk is the same for the other monsters.

A hit from an Ogre, a hit from a Troll, a hit from a Crab; if I were to get hit in full by any of them, I would die instantly too.

[Shade Shift] [Phantom Warrior]. (Hikaru)

Shade Shift is just for comfort, but I use it just in case.

I control the darkness so only the Phantom Warrior can be seen, and I circle it slowly to its back.

The Lizardman stops swinging its sword to prepare for battle against the Lizardman, and takes a stance to fight back.

I silently approach it from the back, use Shadow Bind, and take away the freedom of the Lizardman.

And then, right at the spine, I stab with all my might onto where the Spirit Veins gather.

Silently, in a way that my presence doesnt get detected; every single action performed in complete silence.

The Lizardman also changed into a Spirit Stone without making a sound and fell flatly onto the ground.

It is a Chaotic Spirit Stone. With this, I have regained what I spent. (Hikaru)

I am trying to speak calmly here, but my heart is drumming out of my chest.

The Bind is not absolute. Theres always the chance of breaking out of them and getting hit. The only way of knowing if the Lizardman noticed or not, or if they truly cant move from the bindingis to defeat the opponent If that doesnt happen, then I pay with my own life.

From the 3 Lizardmen, I got 1 Chaotic Spirit Stone and 2 Water Spirit Stones.

The 4th Floor is a waterfall stage, so there might be a lot of monsters that drop Water Spirit Stones.

After that, without going too deep, I would battle alone and would sometimes call a Lizardman with Create Undead.

Slime, Giant Crab, Lizardman, Sahagin.

For Lizardmen, if it is 1 on 1, I have gotten good enough that I can defeat them with certainty, so I would say this is plenty good enough as a preview of the new floor.

Sahagins jump out from the water, but thanks to Dark Sense, I can tell where they are, so it was easy to deal with them. Their strength is on the same level as a Hobgoblin, but they hold tridents, so they are probably somewhat problematic.

Because of the consecutive hard battles, I couldnt bother about how the others looked at me, but my viewers have increased quite a bit.

Getting hit the first time by that Lizardman must have gotten a good reception.

I cant go dying, so acting in a way that I wont die is the priority here, but I dont have the leeway to begin with.

Even so, I got to 1st place in the Real Time Rankings.

My Total Ranking is still far from 1st, and theres not that many days left. I need one more explosive element here.

Or maybe I should rush through the 4th Floor using the darkness and go down the 5th Floor?

Or is there another method?

I dont have much time left

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[Dark Spirit Ability]

Tier 2 Ability

Falsehood of Darkness [Shade Shift] Proficiency 12

Casket of Darkness [Shadow Bind] Proficiency 93

Call of Darkness [Summon: Night Bug] Proficiency 77

Tier 3 Ability

View of Darkness [Dark Sense] Proficiency 8

Transformation of Darkness [Phantom Warrior] Proficiency 14

Deposition of Darkness [Shadow Storage] Proficiency 6

Tier 4 Ability

Revelation of Darkness [Darkness Fog] Proficiency 92

Special Technique

Return of Darkness [Create: Undead] Proficiency 4

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[Progress of all the Chosen in the Viewer Count Race]

Chosen Number 1,000: Kurose Hikaru.

Real Time Rank: 1/714

Total Rank: 4/714

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