Songs in the Void

ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 5th Floor Shop.

Ten days have passed since Tatsuo started grinding the Orc Lord for the rest of the equipment set and the Elixirs he read about in the novel. To do this, however, he was unable to fight the boss alone. Because if he did, the only thing that would drop would be the [Orc Lord's Pauldrons]. So, he had raided the boss in ten different parties. On top of that, he could only challenge the Floor Master once a day. And if he were to somehow die, he would be banned from entering the Dungeon for a week.

Luckily, Tatsuo managed to survive all his encounters with the Orc Lord, even if he lost some party members during the first couple raids. Then, for the rest of the day, he would hunt orcs on the 5th Floor to increase the amount of Gold in his possession.

Unfortunately, despite lucking out and collecting the other parts of the Orc Lord Set in those ten raids, not once did one of the three types of Elixirs, the [Bone Strengthening Elixir], the [Muscle Strengthening Elixir], or the [Skin Strengthening Elixir], show up on the reward list after each raid.

"*Sigh* This sucks." Tatsuo muttered after leaving the Boss Room and returning to the Floor Shop. "I heard about those Elixirs and was really looking forward to them. But it looks like they aren't dropping."

Hearing Tatsuo muttering to himself, Loretta, who was standing at the Shop counter as she always did, raised an eyebrow.

'Is he trying to do the same thing that Shin-Nim did?' Loretta thought to herself while observing Tatsuo. 'I didn't think there were other adventures like him left in the 1st Dungeon.'

"Hey, Loretta." Tatsuo said as he approached the counter. "I've got a couple of questions for you."

"What can I do for you, Tatsuo-Sama?" Loretta asked with her usual professional smile. "As you know, depending on the information you ask for, it could be quite costly."

"Yeah, I know." Tatsuo replied with a smile. "But I heard about these Elixirs from the other people I've raided the Orc Lord with. So, I was wondering, why haven't I seen any of them in the reward list since I started hunting it."

"I see." Loretta replied with a nod.

'I guess he really is trying to do the same thing as Shin-Nim.' Loretta thought to herself. 'Unfortunately, it won't be that easy. Although I'm not sure why I feel this way, it feels like he's not a pure human. And that could be an issue in the long run.'

"Well, Tatsuo-Sama, that will cost you 100 Gold." Loretta said with her professional smile widening as she held her right hand, palm up, towards Tatsuo.

"I should have known." Tatsuo grumbled as he reached into his [Inventory] to retrieve the cost. "I just hope this information is worth it."

"Don't worry, Tatsuo-Sama." Loretta said as she received the Gold from Tatsuo. "I'm sure you'll be happy with this information."

"We'll see." Tatsuo muttered.

"To answer your question…" Loretta said after putting away the Gold. "It's because you're too strong for them."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Tatsuo asked in a confused tone. "I shouldn't be any stronger than other level 6 Explorers."

"Yet, you challenged the Floor Master alone and won without taking any damage." Loretta countered.

"That's only because I'm well trained." Tatsuo shot back. "As far as my body goes, though, I'm no different than others."

Despite saying that, Tatsuo knew it was not true. Because of circulating his [Energy] manually, his stats have increased. At least his physical stats have. While his Magic Stat has seen the most growth, growing to 29. In turn, this raised his MP to 780. And because of the stress circulating his [Energy] put on his body, Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution also increased by 4, 3, and 3 points, respectively. And the moment Dexterity reached 31 points, the [Dexterity Stat] in his [System Status] rose to D, as well.

In other words, Tatsuo knew that his [Mana Reactor] [Racial Ability] could more than make up for the lost stats the Elixirs would provide if given enough time. So, instead of arguing with Loretta, Tatsuo simply shook his head. Then, after deciding to give up on the Elixirs, he looked Loretta in the eye once again.

"Then, on to my second question." Tatsuo said, seeming to be unbothered by the situation. "If I were to remodel the Orc Lord's Set into something that fits me better, would it cause any problems? I mean, this armor is too bulky for my fighting style, you know?"

Despite the fact that the Orc Lord wore steel armor in the Boss Fights, the armor Explorers could receive was made of leather. Because of that, Tatsuo waned to remodel the set into a body suit like the one he is currently wearing.

Taken aback by Tatsuo's unexpected question, Loretta opened her eyes wide. Then, she blinked them a few times in confusion. And it was clear to Tatsuo that she had no idea how to answer his question.

"Um… I'm not sure…" Loretta said, sounding a bit embarrassed about not having the information her customer was seeking. "But, if you can give me a little while, I can ask someone who would be better suited to answer your question to come by and let you know."

"Sure." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "It would be a real shame to accidentally lose [Orc Lord's War Cry] as an available skill. Even if I can only use it once a day. Losing the extra stats would suck, too."

As previously mentioned, Tatsuo collected all the other pieces of the [Orc Lord Set]. And as soon as he equipped them, he heard a Dungeon notification that went like this:

{You equipped the [Orc Lord Set].

-Your Strength and Constitution increase by 5 each.

-When the [Orc Lord Set] is equipped, you can use [Orc Lord's War Cry] once a day.}

Although it did not provide the same buff the Orc Lord would receive when it used [War Cry] when alone, the Set Skill did provide the party buff with no issue.

"Okay, by the time you break through the 6th Floor, I should have an answer for you." Loretta replied while nodding her head vigorously."

Hearing that, Tatsuo also nodded his head. Then, with the [Orc Lord Set] equipped, he turned towards the door leading to the 6th Floor and started walking.

"Alright, I'll see you on the next floor, Loretta-San." Tatsuo said with a grin.

After that, Tatsuo walked onto the 6th Floor. Then, he took a moment to look around. And without any surprise, the place he found himself in was a corridor made of grey stone, much like the lower floors.

"Well, let's get started." Tatsuo muttered to himself. "I'll be fighting wraiths for the next five floors. And they can only be dealt with by imbuing my weapons with [Energy], if I remember correctly. So, this will probably take a much longer time than any of the other floors because of the little bit that I have."

After speaking to himself to get his mind in the right state, Tatsuo took a deep breath. Then, he shouted, "Commence Exploration" and started walking forward.

As the lights in the corridor dimmed, an even more ominous atmosphere assaulted Tatsuo. However, he was completely undeterred, continuing forward at his own pace. One thing that was different about his explorations until now was the fact that he did not enter [Stealth]. And the reason for that was simple, wraiths, or rather any kind of undead, meaning wraiths, ghosts, zombies, ghouls, skeletons, etc., could sense the auras of the living. So, concealing himself would do him no good.

Less than a minute into his exploration, Tatsuo saw his first wraith, a semi-transparent, ghastly, humanoid figure, floating around in a predetermined patrol path. And as soon as he got close enough, it immediately rushed towards him. IN response, Tatsuo continued moving forward with [Energy] already imbued into his weapons.

Once the wraith was in range, it swung its clawed hands at Tatsuo's chest, trying to absorb his life force through contact.

Reacting quickly, Tatsuo stepped backwards, just out of the wraith's reach. Then, once its claw passed by harmlessly, he stepped forward, throwing an overhand right into the wraith's head. And because his bladed knuckle dusters were flowing with [Energy], they dug into its head like any other monster.

"Gya~~~~~!" The wraith screamed in pain as it dissipated into motes of mana.

"Shit…" Tatsuo grumbled as he could imagine that scream attracting more wraiths. "What makes it even worse is that I could not sense that wraith, even though I could see it. I guess I'll need to use [Energy] for that, too. *Sigh* This is gonna take a really long time, isn't it."

Just as Tatsuo finished speaking, nearly a dozen wraiths came floating down the corridor or phased through the walls. And when they sensed Tatsuo's aura, they all flocked towards him. In response, Tatsuo, although he had no idea how to add [Energy] to his [Perception], tried his best to sense the incoming wraiths.

Eventually, the wraiths reached Tatsuo's attack range. And when they did, the front-most wraith swung its claws at Tatsuo, much like the first one he killed had. Ducking under the swipe, Tatsuo slashed its neck with his weapon. Then, he side stepped a thrust from above before flipping the blade in his left hand and jamming its tip into the wraith's chest.

Unfortunately, because he was unable to sense the ghostly foes he was facing, he took a claw strike to the back as he killed his second wraith. Unbothered, Tatsuo spun his body, slashing the wraith that just damaged him with the same hand.

'This really is gonna be much harder than I expected.' Tatsuo muttered internally as he continued doing his best to avoid the attacks he could not sense while killing the group of wraiths. 'At least there aren't more coming. The way all these things scream when they get killed, I thought I'd be flooded by hundreds of them soon. It looks like they can only summon more if they are within a certain range.'

After a few more minutes, and after taking a half a dozen more hits, Tatsuo finally finished off the dozen wraiths who attacked him. Then, he pulled out a potion from his [Inventory], popped the top, and drank it in one go to restore his lost HP.

"*Sigh* At least they don't hit very hard." Tatsuo muttered as he tossed the empty potion bottle away. "It will take like twenty hits before these things can kill me. So, I should be fine."

With that thought spoken aloud, and his health restored to an extent, Tatsuo started moving again. All the while, he tried spreading his [Energy] as thinly as he could to the limits of his[Perception]. Unfortunately, without a medium, like a weapon, controlling [Energy] outside of the body is much more difficult than he imagined.

Still, despite his multiple failures, Tatsuo continued moving forward, killing every wraith he came across and resting whenever his MP got low. On top of that, he found that circulating his [Energy] while in the Dungeon not only recovered it faster than doing it on Earth, but it also raised his Magic Stat more quickly, too.

As a result, by the time Tatsuo reached the 5th Floor Shop a day and a half later, his Magic Stat had risen by 7 while his Constitution increased by 1. As a result, he now had 920 MP. However, that would change as soon as he leveled up, which would happen after only a few steps.

{You have become Level 7. You have the qualifications to challenge the 7th Floor.}

ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 6th Floor Shop.

"Good God." Tatsuo grumbled as he stumbled into the Floor Shop. "That was a lot harder than I thought."

"Welcome back, Tatsuo-Sama." Loretta said cheerfully. "You cleared that floor pretty quickly."

"So, this is the kid you were talking about, Ane ue?" An unfamiliar male voice asked.

Looking up after hearing this voice, Tatsuo made eye contact with a seemingly young man with facial features pretty enough to be mistaken for a woman holding a cigarette between his lips. This young man had waist-length smooth, black hair and wore loose-fitting black clothes. However, his most distinguishing feature was the dragon horns extending from the sides of his head.

To Tatsuo and Loretta's surprise, however, as soon as this young man met eyes with Tatsuo, he began to shudder violently, the cigarette falling from his lips as he did. Then, almost on instinct, he lowered his head in reverence.

"Lin, are you okay?" Loretta asked in a worried tone.

However, the young man, Lin, did not respond. Instead, his body continued to shudder.

'What the hell is this kid?' Lin thought to himself while his head was lowered. 'My blood is telling me that I need to be respectful. Even though he's so damn weak.'

As the horns on his head would suggest, Lin had a draconic bloodline. In fact, he is what is known as a Draconian, the offspring of a human and a dragon. So, it would only stand to reason that his bloodline would react to Tatsuo, who is the son of the omniverse's first Void Dragon. And as Tatsuo's Void Dragon bloodline was awakened, the suppression Lin is feeling will only intensify.

"Lin!" Loretta shouted, finally snapping Lin out of his stupor.

"Huh? Oh…." Lin muttered as he used all his might to raise his head. "Sorry, Ane ue. I don't know what came over me. Anyway, this is the kid who wants to know if he can remodel the Floor Master Set to fit his fighting style, right?"

Loretta could only look at Lin skeptically after hearing his question. She had known Lin for a long time. And she had not once seen hm lower his head to anyone but her and the Lord of the Dungeon, Sherifina, in all those years. Yet, just from making eye contact with Tatsuo for an instant, he not only lowered his head, but started shuddering as if he were afraid.