Hero Of Harmony

Dodging a stone centipede lunging at me from behind, I swiftly turned around while slashing the monster with my left hand that was holding a massive greatsword, bypassing the centipede's stone carapace and cleaving it in half with ease, drenching my weapon in brownish blood. Just as I was about to take a second to catch my breath, I sensed a large group of stone centipedes approaching my location from the various holes in the side of the dungeon walls.

Before they even began to exit from the numerous holes, I started casting an attack spell, [Fire Blast], at the tip of my great sword, which I believe is an excellent weapon for conducting mana through; Master said it's even on par with her staff and that's impressive since her staff is designed purely for casting spells.

'There they are, oh, and there's an alpha as well; it seems I've caused quite the commotion.' Thought Alexander calmly, surrounded by centipede corpses as he watched several centipedes emerge from the dungeon wall, followed by a much larger centipede.

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Species: Stone-Centipede(Common)

Age: 6

Tier: 0

Level: 48

Experience: [46%]

Class: Alpha-Monster

Lifeforce: [100%]

Mana: 230/230

Vigor: 259

Endurance: 202

Agility: 55

Dexterity: 34

Intelligence: 23

Perception: 53

Traits: Soul Sense(Common), Hardened Stone Skin(Uncommon), Dig(Common)

Condition:

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I didn't attack right away; I instead waited for all monsters to emerge from the dungeon wall before I launched the fire blast that had its power increased from me combining it with wind mana, causing it to burn nearly twice as hot as usual while only using a small amount of extra mana.

The moment they all emerged from the holes, I fired the enhanced fire blast toward the center of the incoming centipedes, and the instant it came in contact with the ground, a powerful explosion erupted, creating a thick wall of smoke. Using my mana, I summoned a gust of wind to disperse the smoke, and all that remained was a small burning crater and several charred centipedes, leaving behind a foul scent; surprisingly, the alpha centipede was still alive, but it was far too injured to pose a threat anymore.

Approaching the sizzling alpha centipede, I picked up my greatsword and sliced its head off, effortlessly slicing through its body; looking at the carnage I'd created, I decided to head back home, as I'd been here for a few hours already.

'Oh crap, I forgot; Master had wanted me to harvest the carapace of an alpha stone centipede. Haa looks like I can't leave just yet.' Thought Alexander with a sigh as he rested one of the greatswords atop his shoulder while the other barely scraped the ground.

Since I've burnt the carapace of the only alpha centipede I've encountered today, I'd have to go deeper into the dungeon, which for reference, isn't too deep, only about five floors, at least that's what Master told me since I wouldn't know as I've only gone to the fourth floor. Speaking of the fourth floor, I was currently on the second floor, and after hunting in this dungeons for a few years, I've learned the layout like the back of my hand; once again, at least for the first four floors, I've never been to the fifth floor after all.

The first floor only consists of normal centipedes; there are hardly any alpha centipedes on the second floor; the third floor is where alpha centipedes become somewhat common. However, only alpha centipedes reside on the fourth floor, making it far more dangerous than the other floors.

'Yeah, you nearly died on the fourth floor, Master!' Stated a childish voice full of enthusiasm.

"You don't need to remind me, Trina; also, I didn't nearly idea, I still had my [Rebirth] ability, so I was most likely fine." Said Alexander defensively as he glanced at his right greatsword, which was scraping the ground.

'Whatever you say, Master!' Replied the childish voice mischievously, causing Alexander to sigh while shaking his head at her antics.

The person I was speaking to is Trina, the spirit artifact that inhabits the right greatsword; It's been some years since I first acquired Trina and her older sister, roughly four years to be exact, though nearly a month and a half of it was spent trapped in the dark basement an entire kilometer beneath the surface. Granted, I still think I deserved that punishment for what I did, but Master could've at least given me some food or water while I was down there; if it weren't because of my trait, [Heroes Physique] and incredible healing capabilities, I would've died.

Anyways, back to Trina, roughly a year after Master freed me from the basement, I managed to speak Trina's name, and when I did so, her presence, which used to be inaccessible, became accessible, not to mention doing so also unsealed one of her abilities, that I haven't used yet. Though what I'm most glad about is being able to communicate with her, since I didn't really like the concept of two individuals I know nothing about living in my body; thankfully, they're sweet, well at least Trina is friendly; I haven't spoken with her sister ever since they first bonded with me.

"So, Trina, how's your sister; is she fine?" Asked Alexander, feeling slightly awkward as he still hadn't managed to speak her name.

'Elder sister is fine; unlike me, she's very patient; however, you need to hurry up and speak her name, Master!' Replied Trina in rare seriousness.

"Haa, I'm trying, Trina. It's not easy; your name had just randomly appeared in my mind while I was training. Can't you give me a hint or something?" Said Alexander while walking down a narrow dungeon pathway that headed downwards.

'Even though I want to, you know I can't, Master; Father had installed these fail-safes so that not just anyone could wield us, only the worthy.' Replied Trina apologetically.

"Well, considering how the two of you forcefully bonded with me, I'd imagine I'm worthy; otherwise, why would you bond me?" Questioned Alexander as he glanced at the greatsword while the purple markings glowed brightly.

'The one who wanted to bond with you was Elder sister; I just followed along.' Said Trina awkwardly as Alexander sighed in response.

Shaking my head at her response, I decided to leave it be for now and focus on searching for an alpha stone centipede as I had just entered the third floor; hopefully, I don't end up burning it to a crisp this time.

Since I wasn't attempting to hide my presence, not like I was good at, I could sense a lot of centipedes rushing toward my location, eagerly wishing to kill me, though unfortunately, they were just normal monsters, so after I defeated the tens of centipedes, I continued walking through the dungeon.

It wasn't until nearly thirty minutes later that I finally happened to stumble across an alpha monster, which is rare, but it wasn't anything that warranted my attention; it's happened before, after all. The moment I found the monster, it also sensed me as it released a loud screech and came charging straight toward me with its large pincers that were probably capable of chopping my leg off.

While Alpha centipedes are significantly larger than their smaller counterparts, they aren't that much stronger than one would imagine; sure, they're noticeably stronger, but the difference isn't much. What makes them stand out compared to the normal centipedes is their trait, [Hardened Stone Skin], which is uncommon; although it's just a one-rank increase, It's quite a substantial boost, in my opinion.

'However, It's not much of a problem with my strength.' Thought Alexander with a slight smirk as he imbued his body with mana, increasing his physical attributes.

You'd think fighting a mindless beast wouldn't be too difficult, but in my experience, I've actually found it to be much more challenging; since they have no soul, they rely purely on their body's instinct, which I've discovered to be incredibly acute, though it's only useful if they're facing an attack that could kill them. Otherwise, they're going to ignore everything you throw at them and continue charging directly toward you, and that is very annoying; fighting against monsters that almost don't care for their lives can be very tricky in specific scenarios.

Once the alpha monster was only a few meters before me, I powerfully pushed off the ground with my legs that had been imbued with neutral mana, causing me to appear right in front of the monster; swinging only one of my greatswords, specifically Trina, so that I may get a perfect stone carapace. Yet, just before Trina decapitated it, the monster managed to stop its moment nearly instantly and just barely avoided getting killed, though I had expected that, and that's why I had only used Trina in the initial swing.

Following right behind Trina was another greatsword, her sister that I still don't know the name of, as it cleanly sliced through the neck area of the centipede, just between its head and carapace, dying the ground brown from its blood.

"Well, that was easy; now here comes the annoying part, hauling the corpse; I'm going to need to bathe after this." Remarked Alexander with a sigh as he absorbed Trina back into his body, picked up the alpha monster's corpse, and carried it on his back.

I suppose the only good thing about this is, unlike beasts, monsters don't care about their kin, so at least carrying this corpse doesn't pose any extra danger; it's just disgusting. Exiting the dungeon didn't take long, and not much happened; I only dealt with twenty or so monsters, a relatively small number if you include walking through three different floors.

Once I arrived outside, I took a second to bathe in the afternoon sunlight while inhaling nature's scent before exiting the dungeon on the side of the mountain and entering the forest as I headed home. The walk back home was uneventful, and thankfully, beasts don't like monster blood; as they say it, "Smells worse than shit", so I don't have to worry about beasts attacking me; it, in fact, works as a natural deterrent.

Exiting the forest, I arrive inside the clearing, the place that's been my home for the past twelve years, and to this day, I still love it; having a beautiful Master to come home to every day after exploring the dungeon is also an added plus.