Chapter 74: Second Floor of the Dungeon – Part 1

"Eliane, there is information that someone fitting Nera's description has appeared in the Nan Empire," a man appeared from the shadows and spoke.

*Bang!*

"What the hell!" Eliane was terrified. "My big sister was going to the Nan Empire, if she's not already there... No, I can't let the two of them meet; I need to find Nera first and capture or kill her before that happens!"

The situation was serious, Eliane bit her nail in frustration and muttered, "A bunch of useless people, I'll go by myself. As that saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself!"

*

Nero used dark magic to create a halo around her tiny fist and delicate jade fingers, but frighteningly, the power that surrounded her fist. She jumped and leaned back a little to the left, and then with her right hand she lunged forward like a jet and then punched the head of an infected jaguar.

*Bang!*

*[Critical Hit!]*

_ _

You defeated the Cat Monster: [Infected Lynx] Rank F: Level 6.

_ _

'Well!' Nero smiled in satisfaction.

"That was the last one." Jingu then asked, "Let's go to the second floor, *degozaru*?"

"Yeah." Nero nodded. She still hadn't gotten tired and saw that the same went for Choko and Jingu.

"Wow! We killed them all." Choko smiled and locked her arms in Nero's, which was a little weird, since she was wearing huge gauntlets. "Nero, if this keeps up, we'll get strong quickly."

"Yeah." Nero nodded.

Jingu, on the other hand, tilted her head a little, confused. She did know that they would get stronger if they got stronger using the Monster Cores, but how many days would it take to get mana out of the Monster Cores without being affected by the impurities?

'This is very strange… They have some secret, but I don't feel right asking, however, I dare to speculate that it is related to the fact of monster corpses directly instead of using <Plunder>.' Jingu wasn't a busybody, so she thought silently, but she knew there was something odd about the whole thing.

_ _

Nero Diaz

Breed: Hybrid

Class: Uneven

Subclass: Enchantress

Rank F – Level 3: (17/100 Monster Core Rank F Level 4+)

_ _

attributes

[ Energy] (Mana): 106.76 + 19 

[ Strength] (Hybrid): 106.76 + 8             

[Agility] (Hybrid): 106.76 + 10

6.77 Extra Points Points

_ _

Without anyone noticing, Nero took a peek at her status before climbing the stairs to the second floor.

'I have almost all the Monster Cores needed to advance to level 4.' Thinking about it, Nero perked up. She, for some reason, felt a sense of urgency. Because of that, she wanted to move up to level 4 soon and if possible even get to level 5.

Of course, level 5 was far from being impossible; she didn't even know how many cores would be needed. Besides, it had to be level 5+, which let's face it shouldn't be that difficult, since the monsters on the second floor shouldn't be below level 5.

"Let's not go upstairs now. Rather, let's take a lunch break," Nero said suddenly.

"Yes, Nero is right." Choko was the first to agree.

"Okay, *de gozaru.*" Jingu also nodded.

Maura and Alex had no objections. First of all, they didn't do anything at all. They even felt a little awkward being carried through the battles by these girls. Besides, they didn't even dare say they wanted to eat, as they didn't expect it anyway.

Nero understood to some extent Alex and Maura's thoughts. She waved at them and said, "There's enough food for everyone. Come sit with us and eat."

It was unbelievable. Maura didn't feel safe and didn't dare believe it. She looked to Alex for information. Alex had a good impression of these girls. They were different from all the Hunters who came before. In a way, he already had a certain degree of confidence in them, but he was still cautious. Luckily, they were female, and at this point, his sister was safe.

"Okay." After a moment of hesitation, Alex nodded and took Maura's hand, bringing her to where a 4 square meter towel lay on the floor, and watched Nero pull a lot of juicy meat out of her Hunter Card.

The smell was intoxicating, the siblings' eyes turned to stars. The purity of the meat was clear; it could be said that it was well treated when dismantled.

Maura swallowed some saliva that slipped from the corner of her mouth. She smelled the aroma and her stomach started to rumble loudly, sounding like a lion's roar... Okay, that was exaggerated, but it wasn't a complete lie. In fact, her stomach growled loudly, and because of the echo, it seemed even louder.

Maura's sense of shame was activated. Whether she wanted it or not, she was a girl, and as dirty and battered as she was, she still felt embarrassed for causing such a scene. Nero on the other hand chuckled a little loudly and patted Maura on the head gently, smiling nonchalantly. This startled Maura a little, who nearly jumped back like a scared rabbit.

Alex initially became vigilant, but seeing Nero was just trying to be nice, he softened.

"Okay, let's eat," Nero said, taking a wing of something very similar to a chicken wing. The juicy taste of the meat melted in Nero's mouth. She closed her eyes and then let out a contented sigh.

Choko was mesmerized by this scene. It was very exciting for her to see Nero eat. But, seeing that Nero had opened his eyes and looked at her, Choko panicked and hid her face with her hands.

When noticing through the slits of her fingers that Nero didn't seem to mind that she was watching her eat, Choko felt relieved. Taking a deep breath, she picked up a piece of meat with her fork, and with small bites, she proceeded to eat.

Alex and Maura also couldn't resist the smell anymore and started to eat. Initially, they were slow, but as they began to appreciate the taste of the meat, their eyes sparkled with stars, and they started to eat with vigor.