Descending into the dungeon Nero quickly made his way through the first floor down to the second, fighting a kobold that he came across on the second floor which lead him to make a discovery
"Is it my imagination or did the energy bar increase more from this kobold today than I got from the goblins the other day" he muttered to himself
Wanting to test his theory he explored the floor for longer until he finally came across a goblin, deciding that fighting it was not worth it he instead threw one of his kunai at the back of it's head killing it instantly, checking the energy bar as he did so
"Even though it's the same monster as yesterday the amount of energy I get from it is more, this means that the lower I go in the dungeon the faster I can get more trainers" Nero thought happily as he looked towards the direction that he had just passed where the stairs were, a hungry look forming in his eyes as he thought about all of the new powers he would be able to get if he kept going deeper and deeper before quickly shaking his head to get rid of such dangerous thoughts
"I need to focus, if I go to deep into the dungeon I won't make it back alive to be able to get new trainers and powers" slapping his cheeks to refocus before looking at the dust that was left of the goblin he had just killed
"But going down a floor at a time before I start to struggle shouldn't be to much to ask, I have better stats than most newbies" he thought to himself before caustiously making his way down to the third floor
Discovering only more goblins and kobolds with a dungeon lizard appearing every so often that he was able to deal with easily even when they faced him in groups Nero continued down further, finally stopping once he got to the stairs to the sixth floor
"If I remember correctly the next floor is where new monters start appearing" Nero mumbled to himself as he looked into the darkness "the war shadows start appearing which will actually pose more of a threat and frog shooters who can attack from a further distance, something that when combined together could cause me alot of trouble
As Nero stood still in thought a goblin charged at him from behind, fortunately Nero had long since noticed it due to it not trying to hide it's presence and even making noises constantly as it approached him, dancing out of the way of it's attack and using his tessen to decapitate it
"Shirayuki having a thin edge while remaining light makes it the perfect blade, causing enemies to fall like snow while being light as a snowflake...."
Another goblin attacking from his side as he brings the other tessen down on it's head as he dodges to the side, it's head smashing from the impact
"And Hyōka striking hard with it's weight cracking enemies bones as if they were hit by a solid block of ice, truely a pair that work well together, one focusing on power and the other focusing on technique, offense and defense, brutality and grace, snow and ice they are truely two parts that become better when used together than when they are apart" Nero noted before looking back at the stairs
"One more floor, just to check" he decided "I'll stay by the stairs just in case as well"
Heading down the stairs Nero finally arrived on the seventh floor, only to immediately by attacked, his instincts casuing him to raise Hyōka in defense, the tongue impacting it
"A frog shooter already!" Nero blutted out, breathing a sigh of relief that he had kept his guard up the entire time he was going down the stairs
The monster remained at a distance as it's tongue returned to its mouth, its eyes locked on Nero
"Seems like there's no way out of this fight, I'd best finish this quick, I don't want to draw any other monsters over while I'm not confident in my abilities on this floor or against these kinds of opponents" Nero determined, quickly sprinting towards the monster as he currently didn't have a way of dealing with foes from a distance without throwing his kunai and he didn't think a single kunai would be able to take out an enemy like the frog shooter
Seeing Nero coming towards it the frog shooter shot it's tongue out again, Nero dodging it's strike, the monster trying to reel in it's tongue to try and attack again but Nero being fast enough to be able to use Shirayuki to sever its tongue before bringing Hyōka down on its head with a sickening crunch
"The monsters down here really do give more energy" Nero mumbled as he picked up the magic stone that had come from the frog shooter, his small bag on his hip finally reaching its limit after the magic stone was placed in leaving no room for any more stones
"This seems like a good enough reason as any to return back to the surface" Nero patted his full bag as he turned around to go back up the stairs only to freeze in his tracks
A war shadow was spawning from the wall right next to the stairs, its single red eye glowing as it clawed it's way free from the wall
"Well, looks like I'll be adding one more magic stone to my loot today along with the experience of fighting a war shadow" Nero sighed as he readied himself for the battle ahead.