Chapter 56: Am I Overpowered?

Ryuji leaned back and relaxed while playing with Yumiko's tail. The soft golden fur slipped through his fingertips, soothing him with its silky feeling. After suffering two near-death battles, he wondered if he was too weak for this dungeon.

He flicked his gaze towards the blue panel, his mind distracted by Yumiko's peculiar behaviour.

She seemed fixated on sniffing his neck, a behaviour he couldn't quite understand. 'Is it a beastkin thing?' he wondered, 'or maybe Yumiko is just weird.'

[Tattoo Slots Increased by 1]

1/1 (Locked) - Shadow Fox

1/2 (Free) - Kobold (Berserker)

Because the Shadow Fox tattoo was permanent, it never showed in the slots—Ryuji closed his eyes and wondered which of his many tattoos would help him the most; after the last two battles, his lizardmen tattoos improved quite a lot.

'It would probably be smart in this dungeon to take one of the lizardmen tattoos and the Kobold Tattoo since I don't want to lose my bonus rage.'

In the end, he equipped the normal lizardman type, which increased his Grit by three and reduced damage taken because of the turtle's damage. Ryuji felt this might be more effective in this dungeon, while in the lower-rank dungeons, he could try different mixtures.

Status

Name: Ryuji Vincenzo

Title: Deathbringer (Kobold), Murderer (Human)

Class: Berserker: Lv.10 /?????????: Lv.1

Rage: 0/20 (100 Reserved) [80% damage resist + 50% increase health regeneration]

Rank: C

Attributes

Strength: 35->37 (+4)

Agility: 20 (+2)

Stamina: 21

Grit: 44->49 (+3)

Intellect: 15->16

[Dark Vision -> Perfect Dark Vision]

Perfect Dark Vision - Able to see perfectly in the dark—without light, the world still seems light, and you will struggle to miss any details.

However, while he was thinking, Sheila came closer and started examining his body. Her hands were slightly cold to the touch, yet her eyes filled with concern.

"What are you doing!?" Yumiko snarled at first, before she realised Sheila wasn't doing anything wrong, instead acting like a healer should.

"I will adjust your bones by applying some pressure; it might be painful, so please bite down on something!" Sheila said while casting a spell on Ryuji.

She pressed down on the brakes and fractures in his body. Then Ryuji felt something snap into place, causing him to grit his teeth. There was a moment of pain, followed by immense pleasure as if his blood could flow normally again.

"You should be feeling much better now." Sheila nodded in satisfaction when she finished healing Ryuji's body.

"Thanks a lot, Sheila."

"It's my pleasure, but really... This dungeon's minimum level is twenty, you know? Don't be thinking about rushing ahead again, though you can take blows. Without the proper healing magic, what would you do if we lost you now!?"

'Why does her voice and tone sound so hysteric, like the loss of my life would be the end of the world? We don't know each other 'that' well yet... something doesn't seem right. But level twenty, does this mean I am actually overpowered?'

"Don't worry so much. I'm not doing anything rash, and I will take all the time needed to recover my full strength."

After saying so, he knew Yumiko would put in the effort to ensure he didn't die. He settled back and rested against the stone pillar, waiting for the mouthwatering turtle soup.

****

Two hours later, the entire party finally grouped and stepped towards the second floor. Ryuji noticed there were many drawings on the walls, like old Aztec and Egyptian ruins in his world. It showed various scenes, including the destruction of what seemed to be a world and a dark being wrapped in a strange mist.

'This dungeon, no the dungeons aren't just about helping humans to grow stronger. There must be a bigger reason: are they like bunkers to hide from that existence? The dungeon has many hidden mysteries in it!'

****

While they walked down the spiral staircase, Ryuji couldn't help but ponder the situation. The last floor was easy until reaching the final rooms, but how would that compare to the next one? He realised this after seeing the boss.

'I should be on my guard, though I cannot control my desire to fight and want to crush those monsters...'

Ryuji felt a sort of instinct to fight those powerful monsters, to crush and devour the weaklings while stepping on the stronger ones and making them submit to him. Yet the rage inside became too great, and he always ended up killing them.

The second floor transformed the atmosphere, with hot geysers of water spraying around it and the walls almost burning with a molten amber colour.

"It's so hot and humid..." Simon complained, opening his leather armour's collar.

"Ah... makes me want to fight naked," Ryuji added that the feeling of his armour sticking to his skin felt disgusting, so he removed the bronze armour and remained in his shirt and pants, the heat coming from the small pools of lava immense.

The temperature affected the entire party, with only Alicia and Sheila looking pristine as their bodies seemed impervious to heat.

'I wonder why those two look fine...' Ryuji felt bitter, not because of his skin oozing with sweat and feeling disgusting or wanting to see them unfasten their tunic and robe. He just felt these two women knew something in advance and didn't share it!

Poor Yumiko's tail looked horrid as the heat hit her the worst.