Just Another Beginning After the End | TBATE

Tower of Infinity (3)

The 83rd floor was jungle-themed.

With killer monkeys, murderous parrots, fatass hippos, and a downright atrocious climate, it was a wonder how I managed to even get myself to enter.

The humidity and aromas were just too much. It was probably a mana-induced part of the dungeon as it made breathing difficult.

"Why is there so much mud?"

I suppose Darv didn't get too much mud as Mica and Olfred's gaits increased in stride, doing their best to avoid stepping in the mud.

Still, I couldn't say it was a jungle.

Jungles didn't exist in Dicathen, so it would be tough having to explain what it was and why I knew of it. Jungles were records included about the past Earth when they still had real trees, not the artificial stuff but real trees.

Anyways, building off my experience in traversing the forest during rainy days, I walked through the jungle with little to no trouble. Varay summoned ice shards or flowers of ice to tear through mana beasts.

We decided it would be fun if we each tried to solo clear a floor on our own.

Each floor's difficulty was equivalent to that of an AA or S rank dungeon, so it made for a challenge.

First up was Varay, and, as she was the closest to reaching the white core, she swept through the dungeon with ease, dominating anything with her ice magic.

It was an incredible display of power. Her ice was different from the ice magic I had seen before from human mages. It held an iridescent quality to it like it was a sparkling gem filled with all the colors of the perceivable spectrum.

In under 2 hours, she managed to clear the entire floor with nothing but ice.

All that remained now was the boss.

"...Do you need help?"

Alea had a concerned face.

The grippo, a gorilla with a hippo's head, wasn't that big, but its more compact size made it that much more of a threat.

Looking to be about twice the size of a typical hippo, it being so small gave it greater speed.

"No."

Still, the mage seemed confident.

Nodding, Alea backed off.

Varay stared at the dungeon boss, its eerie black eyes staring into her grey ones. Then, like an invisible

The grippo made the first move.

Dashing forward at a terrifying speed, it opened its jaws, revealing multiple sets of serrated teeth.

Varay fired a frost ray, freezing the inside of the grippo's mouth. However, the beast effortlessly broke through it by simply closing its mouth.

Reaching the end of its charge, it closed its mouth down on Varay, who remained unmoving.

—!?

However, rather than biting down on human flesh, the grippo's eyes widened when it found itself flung into the air.

A pillar of ice had shot it into the air.

"...Huuu."

Watching the grippo get back up, seemingly unfazed, Varay sighed, white whisps of air escaping from the sides of her mouth.

Then, like a scene out of a science fiction movie, starting at her feet, ice began to rise. It covered her body and became a suit of armor, a cape of water cascading down from her back.