The moment the door disappeared, Naruto heard a voice.
"It's been a while, Naruto."
Eh?
Who's there?
Looking everywhere, Naruto tried to find the source of the voice. It sounded nearby but he couldn't see anything in this place, the only visible thing was the stairs.
"Above you." The voice sounded again.
Looking up, Naruto saw it.
A book was floating above his head as he was moving in the air.
"Ego?! "
[Yes. How have you been?] Ego's voice sounded more kind than ever
Naruto didn't seem pleased to see him, he had been here for 6 months without knowing anything about his friend.
"Where have you been?! You idiot!" Even if he was annoyed, he felt happy meeting Ego after a long time.
[I was here, waiting for you. I didn't think that you would take so long on the first floor.]
"Here? I thought you were in another place. Then why did you disappear?"
[Because of the rules, you are supposed to do it alone.] Forming a finger with sheets, Ego pointed up.
'And she doesn't want someone to intervene in your growth'. Ego saved the last words for himself
After being with Naruto for some years, he could see how he changed.
He didn't know that he passed through that place, but the kid changed in a completely different way.
He could sense how his hands were covered in blood and the struggles he suffered. The water in this place could heal the wounds, but the scars were a trophy that belonged to the climber.
Naruto's hands and legs were covered in even more scars than he thought. He could see how the kid was using his chakra violently to survive against the monsters. It was an improvised manner, but it was enough to kill almost any Genin.
But the thing that amazed him the most, was the tier. Above Naruto he could see a faint yellow light. It was faster than he thought. How many difficulties had he gone through there?
"The rules? But they didn't say anything to me."
[It's because normally you don't enter here with other people. There will not be a challenge if you do it with someone.]
Naruto remained silent for a while before he asked.
"Then, will it be the same for the next one?" Naruto was disappointed.
[Yes. The moment you enter it, I will stay here waiting again. I think I come for you later, but I don't know when or where.] Ego used a hand to pat Naruto's head.
"Sigh, fine... I missed you, Ego" Grabbing the book that was closer to him, Naruto hugged it.
[I missed you too,Naruto. But this is necessary. You've grown and you've changed a lot, Naruto.]
"Haha, it was hard, but I didn't have any options... I made it but I had another 9 floors to go."
[It's okay, Naruto. You can do it and you've done a great job. Just continue like that.]
"Mm, I got a lot of rewards and the shopkeeper was kind to me."
[You can count on him, when it comes to things about the tower or if you need equipment, ask him. He will help you if he likes you.]
"Mm, he was keeping me company and letting me sleep in his house. He seemed kind."
[That's good, remember to return the help if you can, but take care and don't die for a reward, you have time on your side.]
"He said that he had a house on every floor, I don't think he needs help but if it was the case, I will do it as long as I can. And yeah, I guess. I could wait, but I don't want to kick some tombstones."
[Don't worry about that, they will live enough to be killed by your hands. Don't think about it for now, just continue the training with the things Gai told you and practice your chakra speed movement until you can cover your body in less than a second, once you can do that you will have the control of a strong Chunin---sending a sheet, Ego continued--- And take this, when you fill the Fountain completely you can open it.]
Taking the sheet, Naruto told him his progress. "Okay, I'm near to 25 according to the status. It wouldn't take long I guess."
As he continued walking, Naruto could see how the stairs behind him slowly disappeared, urging him to continue.
As the conversation continued, Naruto was worried about his friends.
"Ego, could you help them? Just telling them what to do."
[They're doing well, but I will try to help you return next year. You need to talk with Hinata.]
"Hinata? Is something wrong with her family, right?"
[Yes. It's not dangerous but it's necessary, you need to talk to her.]
"Okay, I will give her some gifts for these two years that I couldn't be there for her birthday."
[Fine, do you have something that you wanted to tell your friends?]
"Tell them that I'm sorry for disappearing and tell Hinata happy birthday. I'll return to the village in a few years..." Naruto felt ashamed for that, but even if he could, he wouldn't return at this moment.
[Fine. They didn't blame you, all of them were waiting for your return. Complete this and she will let you return to them.]
"Thanks. I will try to do it faster." Clenching his fists, he continued. "I don't know how much I need to go against them, but at least here I could see hope. Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Ego."
[You deserved it, and even without me, you will reach this place in the future. Keep up and live.]
"Heh, fine. I will continue then."
Naruto talked to Ego about his time on the first floor and before he noticed it, he reached the top of the stairs and was in front of a door.
With reluctance, Naruto let go of Ego.
"Until the next time, Ego. Don't stay in this dark place, please." Naruto didn't wait. He didn't want to say goodbye, it was better to do it quickly.
[Take care, Naruto. I will wait for you in the house.]
As he heard the last words, a smile appeared on Naruto's face and opened the door.
As he entered, the door behind him disappeared and he was in an empty room.
[Location change: Second floor- Safe zone]
[Welcome to the Second Floor]
[Clear the Second Floor and passthrough. Kill the pack leader.]
[You can obtain rewards along the way for completing trials and a reward according to the secrets you discover]
[You can obtain skills on your own]
"Second floor, heh. Let's see what I need to do."
This place was similar to the previous dungeon, but the roof was taller, and the bricks seemed cleaner. In the center of the safe zone was a small fountain where he could fill his bottle.
And in one of the walls, he could see the tent of the shopkeeper, but it was closed, maybe he wasn't here yet.
At least on this floor it seemed that everything was connected, so he wouldn't need to sleep in the dungeon and could return to this safe zone.
"Mm but how can I cook? There are no branches here." That matter concerned him, he couldn't eat it raw after all. "Just wait for him, I hope he could sell me something for that."
Adapting to the new environment, Naruto was ready to search for a new victim in this place. "There were rats on the first floor, what would be on this one?"
He waited for a while, but the shopkeeper didn't appear. Bored of that, he got up and walked out of the room.
Leaving it, the first thing he noticed was that this place didn't have torches and the only light came from the bricks in the walls. It was a faint light, only enough to see a few meters in front of you.
With his guard up, Naruto slowly walked. The ground was dirt, instead of bricks like the previous one.
He could see that in some places, someone had dug there, with the dirt forming piles.
"Is a mole the next one? But it doesn't seem like that."
As he walked, he started to concentrate on his senses to hear things. The place was quiet and nothing new appeared, the passage was divided into some giant rooms that were connected to others. In some places he could see bushes and vermin---rats, they were to a similar size to the ones in the outer circle.
He thought that it wasn't possible for this floor to be the same, the only explanation was that they were food for another predator.
If there are small ones near, the normal ones will be here too...
Confused but curious about his next opponent, Naruto accelerated the pace and continued using his augmented senses until a message appeared in front of him.
[ You obtained the passive skill [Augmented senses: 1%]]
[Augmented senses: Your senses are strengthened.]
"What?" Naruto immediately left the focus state and saw the message.
It said that he had gained a skill, but he didn't feel much difference.
"Do I need to use it more to change something? It's different from the skill fragments I got before." He tried to feel any difference, but it was the same. At least for now, it wasn't useful but maybe later it would be.
Erasing the message, Naruto continued his way.
It had passed 8 min since he left the room and nothing appeared, but the traces in the ground became more frequent. He was getting closer to something.
Controlling his breathing pattern, Naruto slowed his pace.
A few minutes later he heard it.
Bark! Bark!
Dogs barking sounded through the silent passage.
"Dogs--- I need to kill some dogs? Well, yes, the gods are stronger than a rat."
Putting a hand on his chin, Naruto talked seriously. "Mmm, is this a divine signal to beat up Kiba when I return to the village?" Concerned but sure that this was a divine intervention, Naruto was ready to kill some dogs.
Equipping his armor, Naruto entered the next room. This was bigger than any other and a weird smell was in the air.
The piles of dirt were more numerous, and the barks sounded closer.
The light in this place was brighter and now he could see almost the whole scene. The roof was at least 3.5 meters high and in different places he could see some dogs sleeping and rats on the side. The others were guarding the pack. He could see almost 12 dogs and even more rat corpses.
These dogs were covered in thick fur. Their strong bodies gave a warning to anyone who wanted to mess with them, and the biggest part of their bodies was their mouth. A pair of giant fangs could be seen, enough to tear bodies apart like toys.
Naruto could imagine that if he received a single hit, his arm would become dog food accompanied by rat meat.
At first glance, the dogs were 80-90cm each. They were only a little taller than the rats, but it seemed that they hunted them whenever they wanted.
Yeah, it makes sense. The rats became their food
Naruto checked their information.
[Savage dog: 75HP]
Mm the HP was almost the same. Naruto looked at his stats as he covered his hand with chakra.
[Attack] [71(bare hands)] [Defense: 3+3]
He noticed that it only increased a bit when he covered it. And without the enhancement.
[Attack] [45(bare hands)] [Defense: 3]
The difference wasn't that big at the beginning. This changed when he reached the yellow tier, before that, his dmg couldn't be more than 34.
The dmg was great, but these beasts had defense and there was always a big difference between that and the real dmg he could inflict. Even with that, he was sure that he could kill them with two or three hits at most.
There was no challenge killing these beasts, only if a fragment appeared could be different. But the Dwarf told him that it was a special situation, so he would be glad if he met a single fragment on this floor.
"Meh, just do it. I hope this drops meat, I want to taste something new."
Channeling chakra on his legs, Naruto ran straight for the dog.
The poor animal couldn't react and before he noticed it, Naruto landed a blow on his head.
[Savage dog takes 82 dmg] [Savage dog dies]
"Yeah, it's better just to crush their heads."
Picking up the items, Naruto looked at them.
[Soul fragment: increase 0.5% agility] [Broken tusk: it's useful in gardening]
"This is useless, ugh. Just kill some more to see what they drop." Naruto was disappointed but he didn't have many expectations about it.
After seeing his friend being crushed, the other dogs reacted to it, and he started a slaughter. A few times the dmg was below 70 and he needed to use another hit.
In less than 5 minutes, the whole pack of dogs were killed and he obtained what he wanted.
[Savage dog meat: Helps to recover stamina faster. It tastes good in the right hands.]x2
With a smile, Naruto cleaned his hands and returned the same way he came. With this, he could eat the piece Zug dropped and eat the dog to change the taste.
Now the only thing that stopped him was the fire and the utensils for it.
Knowing the path, he returned in 5 minutes.
Noticing that the tent was still closed, he took out some rat leather and used it to make an improvised bed.
Naruto waited for a little longer, but the tent remained to close. So, instead of that, he just went to sleep.
As he was sleeping, an hour later the Dwarf appeared from nowhere with something in his hands. He noticed Naruto on the ground and let him recover from the exhaustion on the first floor.
Opening the tent, the Dwarf sat and waited for him. His eyes lost focus and time passed.
15 hours later.
Naruto awoke.
Stretching, his joints creaked and the relief filled his body.
"Huf, that's better."
After a good nap, Naruto walked to the tent as he saw it open.
Feeling better, he had a smile as he greeted the Dwarf.
"Want to buy something, kid?"
"Aha, do you have some utensils and something to make a fire? I don't have anything to cook here."
"I think so, look at the catalog and put the description of what you want." He pointed at a small screen.
"This looks like the system."
"I asked her to make it easier, as long as you know what you want, you can search on it but will only show the things you can afford at your level." The Dwarf shrugged.
Nodding to him, Naruto started to look at it.
Fire
[Ring fire: Increases the damage of fire magic in 5]250G
[Fire arrows: 2 dmg + 5 fire dmg]25G
[Magic lighter: Produces a small fire, unlimited uses and charges itself after 6 hours without using it]700G
[Torches: a pack of torchesx50] 50G
Utensils
[Basic kitchen utensils: You can take whatever utensil you need] 500G
Wood
[Common log wood: useful to create a firex10] 25G
...
They're expensive, even more than the armors but it was something he needed, especially the utensils.
-1225G
385g remained.
"Thanks! When I get better food, I will invite you!"
"I will wait for that, it's been a long time since I eat something new." The Dwarf waved his hand and fell asleep.
With the necessary things, Naruto returned to his place and started to organize the things to cook.
Taking out the two meat pieces, Naruto started to cook them.
The lighter and the utensils were really useful, he didn't need to wait for so long as before and after a short time, the meal was ready.
Eating first the Zug's one, the taste was horrible as always, but at least his stats increased a bit.
[Strength: 11% (yellow)]
[Dexterity: 11% (yellow)]
[Agility: 11% (yellow)]
It was a lot of stats but to get more, he needed to climb some floors he thought with regret.
To get rid of the horrible taste, he took a bite of the dog's meat he obtained yesterday. It tasted better than he expected and at least for now he didn't need to worry about the food.
Once he was satisfied, he wanted to begin his training.
"Strength and Agility will increase with the fragments later, but I need to increase Dexterity to control it." Clenching his fists, he could feel that he wasn't accustomed to it and he couldn't use his full power on it.
"It's just to cover my body, right? I suppose that even the hair."
Moving the chakra through his body, Naruto could feel that even now he was hurting himself a bit, it was almost undetectable but existed. It was easy to cover the skin in it, at least his legs and arms weren't a problem as they were when he was in the village.
Inside his body he only used it as a mass to increase the weight of his punches but nothing more, it was a crude method.
He tried to use the change of properties he used to stick the leaf on his skin, but it was harder to do it inside. Outside he could use the chakra without any problem, but inside he needed to deal with the tangled and avoid it.
Trying to replicate the process, Naruto channeled chakra into his limbs.
On his fists and feet wasn't so difficult, in a few days or two weeks at most, he could do it and the defense will increase with the amount of chakra he could control in that zone. But in the rest of it, the chakra slowly lost control.
"Just do it, increase it until I run out of food or it would be hard."
He closed his eyes.
With enough portions of food, Naruto began his training.
---------------------------------
Doggy for the second floor!
The village characters won't be left behind.
I don't like the pack of dogs I sometimes see when I go out.
--------------------------------
Thanks for reading!
Have a nice day.