Returning to the Safe Zone, Mark allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. It had been a hell of a welcome. On his very first day, he had taken down 21 monsters without even straying far from the gate. The System's description of the second floor was finally starting to make sense. Fortunately, his months of rigorous training had not been in vain.
Mark had initially faced a choice: learn entirely new spells from scratch or innovate based on the magic he already mastered. He chose the latter. Aside from Earth Wall, nearly all his techniques were adaptations of his existing repertoire.
Air Blade: A modification of air compression and release, creating a slicing effect. Effective range: 3 meters; dissipates after 5 meters.
Air Spear: A concentrated version of Air Blade. By releasing compressed air through a single point, it creates a piercing strike. High mana cost. Effective range: 7 meters; dissipates after 15 meters.
Air Dash: A mobility technique using Air Repulsion on various body parts to propel himself. It has the lowest mana cost, but Mark had suffered countless falls and bruises while mastering it. Its viability in complex combat remains to be seen.
Air Impact: A hybrid of Mana Reinforcement, Air Repulsion, and martial arts. It allows him to strike through his body without physical contact; the air hits the target before the fist does.
Air Burst: A relatively simple yet mana-heavy spell with a bomb-like effect. It blasts everything in a specific direction. Extremely potent within a 5-meter radius
While these air-based techniques are nearly invisible and silent before impact, a subtle sound of rushing wind or a change in air pressure can still be sensed by a keen opponent. As for Earth Wall, while primarily defensive, Mark had already proven it could be utilized in far more creative ways.
While reflecting on these techniques, Mark was suddenly seized by a violent coughing fit. When he checked his palm, he saw traces of blood. It was a stark reminder that mana was still a domain where he had much to learn. Though all his spells were practical, they often resulted in self-inflicted damage.
To prevent this, he needed to achieve 100% directional control over spells like Air Burst; only by perfecting the flow could he eliminate the backlash aimed at his own body. The same applied to his other techniques. Furthermore, he had to refine his mana efficiency to absolute precision. Currently, depending on the spell, he was losing 10% to 25% of the mana required for a single casting—a wasted energy that could only be reclaimed through mastering complex mana manipulation. Eliminating the backlash and maximizing efficiency were now matters of survival. After just one intense battle, he found himself utterly exhausted and physically wounded by his own power.
For the next few days, Mark rested and focused on his recovery. After some additional training on the first floor, he prepared to ascend to the second floor again, this time planning to venture far beyond the gate. However, reality unceremoniously tossed his plans into the trash. Fortunately, through his skin, he could sense the presence of the sun, allowing him to distinguish between day and night and keep track of time—even if rain occasionally masked the sun's warmth.
Returning to the second floor for the second time, he was immediately surrounded by seventeen Orcs. He emerged victorious, but he was left in a battered state. During his third and fourth excursions, he consistently encountered monsters that forced him to retreat back to the gate almost immediately. On the fifth day, he encountered a lone Troll. Initially, it seemed like a stroke of luck; with a Mana rank of D, the Troll relied on raw physical strength, massive size, and rapid regeneration. It was the ideal sparring partner for Mark. The training was going well—until four more Trolls appeared. What started as a harmless sparring session once again turned into a life-and-death struggle.
After countless such encounters, Mark stopped counting the days and his entries into the second floor. The terrain itself, far from the gate, became a nightmare. Constant swarms of mosquitoes were a perpetual headache, and the humid, damp environment was far from ideal. The ground was perpetually slick, posing a constant risk of slipping. It was in these grueling battles that the practicality of Air Dash was put to the test, and the results were far from impressive. He slipped several times and crashed into walls more than once; utilizing Air Dash amidst treacherous terrain and powerful enemies was proving to be a monumental challenge.
Mark fell into a grueling cycle: resting in the Safe Zone, training on the first floor, and battling for survival on the second. At times, the thought of surrendering weighed heavily on him. He questioned the point of it all—after all, there was no immediate penalty for simply idling away his time in the Safe Zone. These thoughts haunted him most when the agony of his injuries was at its peak, as if the physical pain weren't enough.
Yet, he fought back against this mental frailty. He realized that despite the second floor being a lawless, untamed wilderness, the ability to retreat to the Safe Zone was a massive advantage. In the real world, if you are lost in a predatory forest, there is nowhere to hide. He understood that he had to squeeze every bit of progress out of his time in the dungeon. This wasn't just about survival; it was about utilizing a unique opportunity that the real world would never provide.
One of the few saving graces of the second floor was the availability of high-quality meat and superior Monster Cores. While most monster meat was far from a delicacy—often tasting mediocre or being difficult for a normal person to even swallow—Mark was an exception. Having survived on a steady diet of goblin meat, which ranks among the top ten worst-tasting monster meats, he found the flesh of Dire Wolves, Orcs, and Trolls to be quite palatable. In fact, this abundance of decent food was likely one of the primary reasons he kept returning to the second floor.
Then, there were the Monster Cores. To be blunt, F-rank and G-rank cores were almost useless. Their primary function was to serve as energy sources for Rune Golems or various magical artifacts, none of which Mark possessed or intended to study for the time being. However, there was another way to utilize them. If a Monster Core wasn't stabilized, its mana would rapidly dissipate into the surroundings. Meditating in such a mana-rich environment was widely considered an excellent way to recover depleted energy. Mark took all the E-rank and D-rank cores he found and surrounded himself with them during his meditation sessions. Though the effects weren't immediately dramatic due to the low rank of the cores, the long-term benefits were undeniable. Once the mana was completely drained, the core itself would crumble into fine dust. As they were a consumable resource, Mark had to constantly venture back into the second floor to replenish his supply.