Just Another Beginning After the End | TBATE

The Tower of Infinity (2)

I personally liked Mica the most. She was older than me by a few decades, but I suppose her mental age and personality were around mine. Playful and mid-twenties. After that was maybe Bairon. He was a prick, but he was fun to tease so long as I didn't get hit.

Next was probably Olfred. He seemed like a seasoned soldier, but he knew how to get along with people and was more than willing to converse. The dwarf was friendly most of the time, but he was also guarded like he wasn't willing to let any relationship advance past a certain point. It was easy enough to get along with him, but it was also kind of onerous in a way. It seemed he and Mica had a friend/hate relationship.

Last but not least was Varay. She had been mostly quiet, only speaking occasionally, and when she did, it was cold. Still, she made for an okay conversation partner. It was just that she rarely responded, so she was more like a listening partner. I tried talking with her a couple times, but she either stayed silent or answered with the bare minimum.

We were all supplied with similar armor with slight variations. Mine was lighter, with bare minimum platinum-colored light armor. It was made out of a solidium alloy or something like that. Anyways, although I was a conjurer, my fighting style was quick and physical, so I had requested for the armor to be made for an assassin rather than a conjurer.

So, my armor ended up looking to Aya's. Still, I had to admit it looked a bit funny on a 10-year-old. I mean, a kid my age would be in a hoodie and sucking on a juice pop.

"Ah, did you hear about the—"

—KYAAAAK

"...Mica thinks these things are kind of annoying."

"Indeed..."

Once arriving at the 81st floor, the group moved through the dungeon with little to no delay. The theme of the 81st floor was ants. Giant, killer ants of various species and, perhaps due to their size, their screeches were awfully audible. Their screeches of death that is.

Anyways, just as Bairon said, no premade adjustments for teamwork were necessary. Everyone working on their own was enough, and if by minuscule chance cooperation was necessary, the endless vats of experience backing each of the members allowed for seamless collaboration in attacks or defense.

This allowed them to mow through the dungeon with ease, slaughtering anything that stood in their way.

"... I've heard the princess of the elves has begun attending Xyrus Academy?"

"Word travels fast."

"It's the land of Sapin where there are more humans than there are homes. Word travels more than the wind."

Olfred's description hit home. Sapin was overpopulated, and that was one of the primary motivators of the war against Elenoi—

—KIIIIIKKIKIKKK

... I'm the damn narrator, you can't interru—

—KYIKKKKK

How in the—

"Ah, there's the boss."

...And so, the newly found Companions arrived before the boss of the dungeon. The queen of the ants was an S-ranked mana beast; however...

—KIIiiiiikkk

...With restraints of plants and earth and the weight of gravity to hold the queen down, spears of lightning, ice, and pure mana skewered the head, thorax, and abdomen; the mana beast was killed before it could even try to spit acid.

With a final hurrah, the once-proud ant queen screeched before succumbing to its wounds and collapsing, yellowish-green blood oozing out of its openings, new and old.