Chapter 156: Without Service, Victory Is Void

[Hit Point Maximum increased to 230]

[Hit Points: 69/230]

[Mana Point Maximum increased to 340]

[You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate]

[You now have 12 Stat Points to Allocate]

"It's all red," Eloise said and pulled Henry's attention from the notifications he was receiving,

"So then, there were more of that thing to be summoned?" Eloise went on to ask before she glanced at Aurelius and shook her head,

"I'm starting to think this is not quite a Third-Floor Dungeon."

Aurelius opened his mouth and looked like he was about to say something in response but Henry interrupted him with a question for Eloise,

"What does 'Third-Floor' mean exactly?" He asked, "I mean, I'm pretty sure we went up a floor when we climbed the steps to enter that Hall."

Aurelius scoffed at the question, likely thinking it ignorant.

Eloise chuckled at it, finding the question cute. She pulled further away from the open doorway to give him her attention as she said,

"'Floors' are how we calculate the danger of a Dungeon. It refers to the strength of the creatures within it— Most especially the Boss."

As she spoke, Eloise had her arms folded on her Armored chest and had her head angled at Henry like she expected him to have a question about what she just said.

Henry did.

"But why 'Floors'? Why not ranks or tiers or levels and such?"

"You want the long or the short version?" Eloise asked with a gentle smile.

"Short version, please," Henry said equally with a smile.

"Very well," Eloise said before then got started,

"A long time ago, a group of experts wished to understand the Dungeons better. S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

They explored them and recorded what they felt, and in their report, they claimed that although Dungeons are usually quite different in content, they possess a similarity in their core energy. In their 'feel'.

The Experts believed that, for there to be this similarity, there had to be something that pulled the Dungeons together so they decided that every Dungeon was within a singular structure. A 'Tower' if you will.

The higher the Dungeon is within this metaphoric Tower, the stronger the energy within and the stronger the creatures within. And so, they devised the 'Floors' system as a way of determining the difficulty of Dungeons.

The higher the Floor, the stronger its energy and the creatures within. And I fear this one might not have been inaccurately judged."

"How many Floors are there?" Henry asked next.

Eloise shrugged,

"Not quite known yet," Eloise said,

"The Dungeons keep appearing and they keep getting stronger. There was a Party formed quite recently to clear a Twentieth Floor Dungeon and I've heard there are even stronger ones."

"I see," Henry said, "Thanks for explaining."

"You're welcome," Eloise told him with a smile before Aurelius claimed her attention,

"I think we should get going," he said with a gesture down at the sprawling corridor.

Eloise shook her head and gestured at the Squires all leaning against the wall to rest,

"They need to catch their breath," she said, "Besides, is it responsible to bring them even further into the Dungeon? You can tell what we're going to face soon, can't you?"

"The Dungeon Boss?" Aurelius asked with a raised brow.

Eloise nodded and then let out a sigh,

"Aurelius, we struggled. We were in as much danger as they were and we're supposed to keep them safe. This isn't a Third Floor Dungeon. I refuse to believe it is… They won't stand a chance."

That was the last bit of the conversation Henry caught but he did notice Aurelius start to run through arguments to change Eloise's mind.

"So," Henry asked Louis who was on the ground by his side, "How much 'fun' have you had so far?"

Louis looked to the side at Henry and rolled his wide eyes when he realized that the question was meant to be mocking him since he had stated his reason for exploring the Dungeon further was partly for 'Fun'.

"Quite a bit, actually," he said, "I mean you can't tell me you didn't feel thrilled to see that large Monstrosity hit the ground with finality."

"I don't think 'thrilled' is the word I'll use for how I felt," Henry said with his nose wrinkled and a smile playing at his lips,

"I felt relief more than anything."

This was of course not entirely true. Henry always felt pleasure from seeing anything fall to his gunshots and that had been the case here but he saw no reason to admit that because, for all the fun it was to shoot and kill things, he still had the good sense to seek self-preservation.

Nyx was lying on the ground by his side with her head against the corridor floor. Subconsciously, Henry stretched his hand out and stroked her head to which she let out a delighted puff of air from her nose as she relaxed even further.

"Either way, we all got something from it," Louis said and when Henry was about to raise a brow at that statement, he saw the Mage close his eyes and revel in some feeling of improvement.

"Oh, it's happening again?" Henry asked. He recognized the look on Louis's face from when they had gotten past the room with the Sarcophagi.

Louis said nothing and simply nodded. Andor was also reveling in the sensation of improvement and Henry called magical energy to his eyes. Activating <Insight> to observe the increments;

——————

[Name: Louis]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Mage]

[Health: 160 ———> 170]

[Mana: 200 ———> 230]

[Strength: 13 ———> 14]

[Agility: 15 ———> 17]

[Stamina: 22 ———> 26]

[Intelligence: 85 ———> 90]

*[Remarks: A young Mage who makes up for what he lacks in Magical Training with a lot of enthusiasm and Talent. Has only discovered one Elemental Aptitude (Lightning).

Has impressive potential but Killable should you want to.]

——————

——————

[Name: Andor]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Fighter]

[Health: 210 ———> 220]

[Mana: 160 ———> 170]

[Strength: 66 ———> 70]

[Agility: 34]

[Stamina: 32 ———> 34]

*[Remarks: A Fighter who makes up for his limited Martial training with enthusiasm and Impressive strength. Has Impressive Potential but is killable should you want to.]

——————

Louis had the most amount of Stat increases. Henry counted an additional 12 Stat Points tagged onto his Stat screen —which was equivalent to two level-ups for him— compared to the 6 Stat point addition on Andor's screen.

If Henry were to guess the reason for the disparity, he'd have said it was because Louis had been vital in felling the Monstrosity and he would have been right.

Curious, Henry looked at the Knight Party. The Squires had similar expressions as Louis and Andor which was enough of an indicator that they were also undergoing Stat increases. He ignored them and his eyes fell on Eloise and Aurelius who were done with their conversation now and had their arms folded with nothing in their expressions to betray a delight in Stat increases.

Henry turned <Insight> on them and called up their Stat screens to observe any possible change;

——————

[Name: Eloise de Vurgen]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Mage-Knight]

[Job: Squad Captain]

[Health: 440 ———> 460]

[Mana: 560 ———> 580]

[Faith: 200 ———> 202]*

[Strength: 102 ———> 105]

[Agility: 60 ———> 64] Stay updated via m_v_l_e_m_p_y_r

[Stamina: 65 ———> 68]

[Intelligence: 80 ———> 82]

*[Remarks: Hmm… A lady with a curious set of Stats. They tell the story of trials and a long journey of improvement. Aptitude in Spell-Casting and Martial abilities make her seem like a jack of two trades trying to master all.

She is technically Killable but should you try, my bet is on her to win.]

——————

——————

[Name: Aurelius]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Knight]

[Job: Squad Captain]

[Health: 450 ———> 470]

[Mana: 400 ———> 410]

[Strength: 106 ———> 110]

[Agility: 65 ———> 67]

[Stamina: 70]

*[Remarks: A Knight capably trained to carry out the righteous convictions of his oath to fuel his Physical Might which is already quite impressive. Certainly Killable but is a force to be reckoned with and would currently make a difficult opponent.]

——————

Henry was quite wowed by the increases to an already stacked Stat screen but his eyes were drawn to the asterisk tagged into the corner of the 'Faith' tab. He clicked on it and opened an additional window;

[Faith is unaffected by mundane victory and can only be increased through acts that please its bearer's Divine Patron.

The Divine Patron who Eloise de Vurgen seeks to serve promotes goodwill above all else and, as such, her 'Faith' will only increase when her victory is in the service of others.

For without service, Victory is void.]