Parallel Memory

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[ "Ice Wall" ]

[ "Ice Shard" ] ...

Zero continued his training as before. He was fighting with the monster with his Cryomancy Art, in hope that it would also breakthrough as the Shadow Style.

Though Zero knew that Cryomancy still had to be trained for a long time before he could breakthrough to Expert Level.

"Phew! It is not easy defeating such a large number of monsters. Did any monster harm you?"

Zero asked Lilith. Though he didn't get any kind of response from her which was normal.

Lilith was awake and was able to move. Even though she was awake and could move, she would only do that at the command of Zero.

Even with Lilith awake, nothing much seemed to have changed for Zero. He still needed to train and find a treasure that would completely heal Lilith. His goal still remained and he was determined to achieve it.

One thing that changed though since Lilith woke up was that Zero didn't need to look after her as much as before.

This allowed him to fight more freely without having to get worried about Lilith nor did he need to carry her when moving from place to place, allowing him to explore the place faster than before.

Zero only needed to give her command to protect herself from monsters and any monsters approaching her would be instantly killed. Despite not using skill and technique, the monsters on Floor 16 were simply not a match for a Rank-A Devil.

However, that didn't mean that Zero was getting help from Lilith to fight monsters. He would always kill any monster that tried to attack Lilith before she did anything.

This was his training. He didn't use his Trump card or put himself in dangerous situations for the sake of getting stronger. Getting help from Lilith would defeat that purpose.

Soon he encountered the boss monster on Floor 16. He tried to sense their number and strength as he quietly hid behind the trees.

Even though he didn't try to find it intentionally, he encountered it while exploring the floor. The boss monster was a Rank-C + Orc Lord with several Orcs guarding him.

As Zero encountered the Orc Lord and his guards, he knew that this would be a challenging battle. The Orc Lord was a powerful monster with high defense, and he had several Orc guards with him. But Zero was confident in his abilities.

Moreover, monsters on Floor 16 were starting to become easy for Zero. Even though he thought about training for a little longer, since the opportunity came itself, he planned to defeat the boss monster and go to Floor 17.

[ "Shadow Dance"]

Zero merged with the shadow and sneakily moved toward the Orc Lord. Neither the Orcs nor the Orc Lord had any idea about Zero intruding into their place. The Orc Lord was still lazily sitting on his bone throne, not aware of Zero's presence.

As soon as the Orc Lord was in his range, Zero charged toward the Orc Lord, his sword ready to strike. He was going for an instant win.

!!!

The Orc Lord was startled by the sudden appearance of Zero. He tried to grab his ax to defend against Zero's attack. However, he was slower than Zero and could only resist the attacks with his body.

-SLASH! -SLASH!

Zero landed a series of powerful strikes on the Orc Lord's body, but it didn't seem that it was enough to kill him. Zero's attack was enough to kill a Rank-C + person or seriously injure a Rank-B -, however, it didn't seem to have much effect on the Orc Lord.

The Orc Lord let out a roar and swung its ax, but Zero was able to block it with his own sword. Zero backed off a few steps in order to avoid getting caught in the Orc Lord's attack.

With an Orc Lord's roar, the Orcs nearby were notified of the intruder and instantly made their way towards Zero to deal with him.

The Orc guards moved in to attack, but Zero was able to handle them easily. He used Ground Freeze which froze all the guards. With them no longer having the ability to resist, Zero easily took them out.

The Orc Lord, seeing that his guards were defeated, grew angry and more ferocious. He swung his ax wildly, but Zero was able to dodge and block his attacks with ease. Zero knew that he had to be patient and wait for an opening.

Normal attacks would only agitate the Orc Lord and were not enough to kill him. To get past the Orc Lord's defense and defeat him, Zero needed to focus his attack on his vital organs with his full power.

-CLANG! -CLANG! -CLANK!

The Orc Lord swung his heavy ax and attacked. The power behind each swing would be enough to cut a building in half but Zero easily took his attacks. Zero also had Rank-C + strength and with his Rank-C + stamina, he had no problem continuing to defend against such fierce attacks.

-BAAANG!

Finally, the Orc Lord made a stronger strike than usual which Zero dodged. The Orc Lord's ax became stuck in the ground, leaving an opening on his left side.

[ "Shadow Style: Shadow Slash" ]

Zero saw his chance and took it, landing his most powerful strike on the Orc Lord's chest. The Orc Lord let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground, defeated.

With the Orc Lord defeated, Zero had cleared Floor 16. He could continue to train here and ascend to the next floor later but since there was no formidable enemy left, he decided to challenge Floor 17.

The environment here was also something that he was used to. Forest areas were common and he didn't want to waste his time training in the same place. He wanted to fight against a new enemy and a new environment.

Zero collected the loot from defeated monsters and treasure chests. The treasure had great items, even containing Rank-B artifacts. Though none of it was better than what Zero was already equipped with.

After taking all the valuables, Zero used the teleportation scroll and a portal appeared.

As Zero stepped through the teleportation portal to Floor 17, he knew that he was in for a tough battle. He had trained hard to get to this point, but he knew that the monsters here would be much more powerful than anything he had faced before. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the challenge ahead.

- SWUSH!

-THUD!

As soon as he got on Floor 17, Zero was immediately struck by the change in the atmosphere. The air was thick with a sense of danger and the floor was shrouded in a dark, ominous fog that obscured his vision.

This was the first time that he had fought in this kind of environment where light is almost non-existent.

Though with his enhanced sense, he was able to see well, not very clear but enough to see where he was walking.

Zero knew that he had to be on his guard at all times if he wanted to survive. He made his way through the dark fog, his senses on high alert. He could hear the sounds of monsters lurking in the shadows, but he didn't let it intimidate him.

The first monster to appear was a giant spider, its body covered in thick, black fur. Zero could see glowing red eyes staring at him from the darkness. He didn't hesitate, and charged toward the monster, his sword ready to strike.

The spider was fast, but Zero was faster. He dodged its attacks with ease and landed a series of powerful strikes on its body. The spider let out a screeching noise, but Zero didn't let up. He continued to attack, until finally the spider fell to the ground, defeated.

As he progressed further into the floor, he began to encounter more and more powerful monsters. They were unlike anything he had ever faced before, with sharp claws, powerful jaws, and deadly venom.

But Zero didn't back down. While the monsters were powerful and possessed many poisons that could be deadly, Zero was able to quickly take care of them without getting poisoned.

Even if he got poisoned, he could slow it down with his Ice Magic and he also carried plenty of antidotes in his Spatial Ring. Therefore, he was not afraid of poison though he made sure not to get hit by it.

Zero continued to make use of the unfamiliar environment of Floor 17 to further train his fighting style. He wanted to be able to fight like normal even in places where his vision is obstructed.

No matter the environment, as long as it was something that he was not used to, Zero was determined to spend time there and get used to it.

So that when he needed to handle an enemy in such a place, he would not be at any disadvantage. He wanted to be able to display 100 percent force at all times.

He decided to stay on Floor 17 until he got used to the Darkness.