From there I go through it, the moment I do so I am met with a set of stairs that go down, once they are done there is a bit of a path that goes forward a few meters until it changes, making anyone, myself in this case, turn left since the path keeps on going. Unlike the first corridor, the ceiling for this one is normal and not in an arch. This corridor this time around is a little more fancy per say. To my left there still is another half wall, however instead of having railings at the top, there is a bush that goes all the way until it hits a normal wall. This bush is roughly 20 centimetres tall, but it’s extremely well taken care of, flowers, beautiful ones at that, are present here and there giving out a gorgeous look to it. Even though there isn’t an arch ceiling, columns are still present, spaced between each other with a decent distance. They are, however, decorated quite elegantly. Even the walls to my right are also decorated quite elegantly, with still the same colour pattern as before. Seriously, what a massive difference from just a room ago. But, why is that the case? The space here also feels wider, well, it is actually. The question, however, comes back again, why?

  “I will never get an answer by just standing still. For now, there aren’t any magic signatures close to me, so in that sense, the coast is clear.”

  Well then, with this perfect plan in mind I get my feet moving. The stairs are long, the steps itself that is. My feet are around 43 centimetres long, with my shoes on I would say they total 45 centimetres or a little more? Around that, however the steps are well above that, I would say around 75 centimetres? Just what type of monstrosity walks by here? Or am I the one that is small? Now I’m getting conscious about my own feet size. Whatever, I will not question something that I cannot change about myself. I keep on descending the stairs, walking forward once they are done and taking the corner once I’m near it. Not to my surprise, there is another massive corridor one that easily stretches up to 100 meters and once again to my left there is that half wall. This time around, the view that I have because of it, it’s something else. So much so that I even walk up to the half wall to see it better.

  “This looks so surreal and breathtaking even. The sky, the environment, everything seems like it was created by a fairy, or should I say an artist? An artist expressing his art into the real world. Yes, a painting that has painted itself into the world.”

  I am speaking to no of course and I repeated myself right at the end but in a different way. My thoughts are forcing their way out of my mouth, nothing that I can do to stop them nor I want it to, to be honest. Do you remember the floating Crystal sharks that I have mentioned before? Those monsters are something else to look at, a floating catastrophe and a terrifying one at that. But right now, there is something that somehow is even more amazing than those sharks and of course, more terrifying.

  “A Floating Crystal Whale.”

  It’s right in front of me, but several meters at the same time, easily hundreds of them or maybe even a kilometre. But thanks to its sheer colossal size, it seems that close. Let me describe this majestic monstrosity, breathtaking, fear inducing monster, one that will haunt you down until your very last breath on this world.

  It looks like a typical blue whale, but one made of the same Crystal materials as the other Crystal monsters that I have just faced and talked about. It's coloured mainly in white, snow-white, with a few details here and there with what seems to be a golden colour. The amount of magic energy on that thing is also something else, I would say it could touch the rank of SSS, one tear below myself and the Demon Lord. I don’t want to even imagine what type of continent shattering magic spells that thing must have on its arsenal. Just as I mentioned that thing is massive, I would say it has around 150 meters of length and another 250 meters of width, although 200 meters are for the fins, 100 meters for each one to be more precise. In other words, a floating horror ready to sink down a whole nation with a single spell.

  Kict! Kict! Kict!

  Then as if it heard me, or it actually did sense my presence, the Crystal Whale sings its deadly sound. It’s a ticking sound, one that is as deep as the abyss itself. A sound that even shakes this mysterious world down to its very own core. If it was in the real world, it would shake the ground just like an earthquake would. Its massive eye, a single one as the Crystal Whale is sideways, it shines with a golden like colour, one that anyone can easily spot even in the abyss itself. A shine that you would easily mistake it as the sun itself from how bright it is. It’s looking towards my direction as it sings that beautiful song of life, proving my theory that it actually sensed me. But I was joking, I actually shivered with the damn sound, it’s more like the sound of an angel- no, it seems more like the ticking of death itself rather than the angel’s melody. Either way, now I have to worry about a massive floating whale as I walk around here. Great! My life couldn’t get any better! Ah fate, why do you play with me like this?

  Whatever, with this new threat in my mind, I decide to keep on moving, and while I do so the whale does the same, slowly floating around this whole area, acting like a guardian of this place. Wait, a guardian? Now that is a rather interesting theory and if that is the case, I wonder how strong is what he’s guarding. Moving on, after a minute or so I’m down at the end of the corridor and wouldn’t you guess? Yep, another door ready to be open. Who could’ve foreseen such a thing? I think this sarcastically in my mind as I quickly use my Magic Sense skill to see if there is someone up ahead. Not to my surprise really, but there are more monsters up ahead, three of them to be extremely precise, and these ones seem much stronger than the previous ones.

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  “Now, how should I tackle these ones? I don’t think they are strong enough for me to even draw my weapon, but at the same time I don’t want to be caught off guard.”

  I say this because I don’t want to waste stamina and magic energy. If for some reason I have to fight that Whale I will need just a tiny itty bit of magic energy to defeat it, and if the goddess of luck for some reason has something against me, whoever the Whale is guarding is as strong as it or more, then I will need all of my magic energy to defeat both of them. Yes, things are not looking good for me.

  “Let’s take this seriously then.”

  It’s better if I do so, but I still won’t be using any weapon, just my hands, Martial Arts in this case. Thank god I’ve learned those, or more got them shoved into my brain thanks to that Oni of a teacher. Anyway, time to go in. Without any hesitation at all I carefully enter the room, mind you that my barrier is long gone so getting hurt is now a possibility. I can use that barrier spell again but once again I want to minimize my magic usage to the very minimum.

  The door opens by itself, as if it knows that I want to get in. This time it’s an open room, a massive one at that. I would say this one has around 400 square meters, just four times more than the first one. Ah, a good arena in other words, now, let’s see what we have here then... Three of them just as I said before, but these ones are once again another type of Crystal monsters that I have never seen before. They seem like an upgraded version of the Crystal Knights. They are taller, larger and of course, they have more magic energy than them. I would rank them at A- in terms of magic energy, so their strength might be at that level. Does not seem much compared to me, but in reality, it is, especially if we compare with the Crystal Knights B rank. The difference between then just to get the idea, is that these new ones are tenths of times stronger than the Crystal Knights. Yep, tens of times, that is how much of a difference it is from a B rank to A- rank. Opah, while I was yapping at how strong they are, two of them are quickly running up to me. They both have great shields and long swords. A deadly combination to someone that is unarmed like myself.

  “They are fast though and just like the Crystal Knights they seem to work together quite well as the third one is preparing a magic spell. What! A magic spell!?”

  Swoosh! Swoosh!

  Two simple swings back-to-back, the first one was a downswing followed up by an angled one, where he goes from up to its left as far as his arm allows, then with a diagonal movement he does another diagonal down swing. I dodge both of them with ease however I did so by simply moving sideways slightly with the first one and the last one I backed off a bit, putting myself in an open position for the next one to strike me.

  “Not so fast!”

  Swoosh! Clink!

  This time, with a thrust attack with his long sword, he tried to pierce me through my stomach. This would’ve connected if I didn’t parry it with my bare hands. Not really, not only do I have gloves I also have armour on them, in other words I’m using gauntlets. I parried it to the side, to my left and thanks to the added momentum from the thrust attack, he kept on going forward for a bit, putting himself in a good position for yours truly to counter attack.

  “Martial Arts – Quick Punch!”

  Swish! Bam!

  It was faster than any of them could see, let alone process what happened. The only thing they were able to see was the monster flying, I should name them now that I think about it, if the others were Crystal Knights maybe we should name these ones Royal Crystal Knights? There is a reason why I choose this name, but enough of me jabbering. I sure like to talk, no? Or think in this case… Anyway, my punch was quick as I said, so much that they only saw the Royal Crystal Knight flying with his body shattered. However, they did hear the sound of my fist traveling through air, creating that “swish” sound as it basically breaks the speed of sound. This one, from the resistance that I got from the impact, I can tell you that their defences match their magic energy, A- in other words. Not enough to resist my skill allowing me to go right through its Crystal body. I hit him right on his side, just below where his rib cage would end. However, the punch was more than enough to make a decent hole in it and the shockwave that followed it, it cracked a little more of his body and shattered the rest of it. He went flying a few good metres until it collapsed completely and disappeared. Two to go and that’s a Fireball coming at me.

  “A Fireball!? What the-”

  Swoosh! Fire noises!

  I narrowly dodge it but from how close it went flying past me, I can tell you that these flames would be around 975 degrees or so. Hot as hell in other worlds, matching once again his magic energy, a spell with the strength of A- rank. Anyway, time to take care of the one close to me as it seems it’s mere moments from doing something to me, or at least trying to do so.

  “I will be the first one this time, Martial Arts – Shattering Punch!”

  I shout this towards the Royal Crystal Knight, the one that was ready to test his luck at me. Maybe it was because of my previous attack, or it was instincts telling him to block it, either way, he lifts up his great shield and puts it in front of him. I was ready for it though, that is why I decided to shout, it was an attempt of putting fear into him and I was successful at doing so. My fist shines brightly with a white colour to it, while Martial Arts are skills, they don’t consume magic at all, just stamina, and in that department I’m more than confident that I have more than enough to keep going for a few days.

  Bam! Shatter noises!

  I connect the punch right on the middle of the shield, you would think that area is the strongest part of the shield and you would be right but I simply didn’t care about it. My fist goes right through said shield, decimating that area and whatever was left of it, it ended up shattering and collapsing. This was not enough to stop my momentum at all.

  Pow!

  I hit him right in the middle of his chest and as you can guess, not only my fist went right through it as this Martial Art skill is that much stronger than the previous one. The shock wave that follows it, it blasts away his upper body and even a bit below it. Another one down, one last to go and this time it’s a damn Hydro Bomb…

  “Really!? Now it’s a Hydro Spell!?”