Chapter 173: 173. Grinding

Floor 3 began the moment Owen stepped through the doorway.

The chamber was larger this time. The walls pulsed faster, the violet light more intense.

Ten hunters remained. The weakest had stayed behind. The overconfident had died.

The voice echoed.

“Floor 3 of 50. Objective: Endure. Resonance Pressure increased to 75%. Constructs now adapt more to combat patterns. Begin.”

Owen’s CE core resisted harder. A Momentum Shift that cost 7 CE on Floor 2 now cost 10. A 30 CE punch now cost 52.

“Seventy-five percent increase. This is too fucking brutal.”

The floor cracked and constructs emerged….again.

[Resonance Construct – Tier 5, Two-Star]

[Ability: Pattern Recognition – Learns opponent’s attack sequence after three repetitions]

Twelve constructs. For ten hunters.

Two hunters would face multiple opponents immediately.

Owen wasn’t one of them. Lucky again as One construct locked onto him, its featureless head tracking his movement.

He didn’t wait for it to attack.

Momentum Shift. 10 CE. He closed the distance, throwing a 30 CE punch (52 total cost) to its torso.

CRACK!

The construct staggered. But it didn’t fall. Instead, it adapted. Its stance shifted, becoming more defensive.

Owen struck again. Same angle. Same force.

The construct blocked. Perfectly.

He changed tactics. Low kick, 20 CE (35 total cost), targeting its knee. The construct’s defense was still calibrated for torso strikes. The kick connected.

CRACK!

Its leg buckled. Owen followed with a punch to its head. 30 CE (52 total cost).

The construct shattered.

[Floor 3 – Construct defeated]

[Contribution: 1/12]

His CE: 391.

Across the chamber, chaos erupted.

One hunter—a crystalline being with four arms—faced two constructs at once. It fought brilliantly, coordinating strikes from multiple angles, keeping both constructs off-balance.

But then it repeated a pattern.

High strike, low strike, sweeping kick. Three times.

Both constructs adapted simultaneously.

They blocked then Countered and the crystalline being shattered into fragments that dissolved into light.

Another hunter down.

Nine remained.

Veyra fought her construct with precision. She didn’t repeat patterns. Every strike came from a different angle, a different trajectory. Her wings gave her three-dimensional mobility that the construct couldn’t fully track.

She won. Barely.

The four-armed hunter from Floor 1 fought two constructs. He didn’t panic. He isolated them, forcing them into a position where only one could attack at a time. Then he dismantled them methodically.

Efficient and Ruthless.

The chamber pulsed. A pedestal rose. Two Grade 2 cores.

The four-armed hunter took one. Veyra took the other.

She glanced at Owen. “You good?”

“Yeah, Still breathing.”

“That’s the spirit!”

The doorway opened.

“Floor 3 complete. Proceed to Floor 4.”

—

Floor 4 was total darkness.

The walls didn’t pulse. The ceiling didn’t glow. The only light came from the hunters’ own CE, faint auras surrounding their bodies.

Eight hunters now. One had turned back after Floor 3.

“Floor 4 of 50. Objective: Perceive. Resonance Pressure at 100%. All visual input disabled. CE sense required. Begin.”

Owen’s Dragon’s Eye was useless. He closed them. Extended his CE sense instead, basically his mana sense but more sensing CE now than mana.

The constructs appeared as outlines of energy. Faint, flickering, difficult to track.

[Resonance Construct – Tier 5, Three-Star]

[Ability: Silence – Emits no sound, produces no physical presence. Only detectable through CE sense]

Ten constructs. For eight hunters.

Owen sensed one approaching. He sidestepped, 10 CE for Momentum Shift. The construct’s strike passed through empty space.

He couldn’t see its pattern. Couldn’t predict its movements visually. He had to feel the shifts in its CE, the buildup before each attack.

It was slow and methodical, Like fighting blind.

He threw a punch. Missed. His makeshift CE sense wasn’t precise enough.

The construct countered. Its fist grazed his ribs. Pain flared. His CE dropped to 346. Ultra-Regeneration kicked in, 12 CE to heal.

“Focus Owen, Feel the energy. Don’t rely on sight.” He thought to himself.

He extended his senses further. Not just tracking the construct’s position, but its intent. The way its CE gathered before a strike, the subtle shift in density.

There.

He dodged left. The construct’s punch missed.

He countered. 30 CE punch (60 total cost). Connected.

CRACK!

The construct staggered. He felt its CE flicker, destabilize.

Another punch. Same cost.

It shattered.

[Floor 4 – Construct defeated]

[Contribution: 1/10]

His CE: 274.

Around him, hunters struggled. One fell, their CE signature extinguished like a candle. Another retreated toward the entrance, giving up.

Six hunters remained.

The chamber’s lights returned. The pedestal rose. One Grade 3 core.

The four-armed hunter took it without contest. No one argued. He’d carried the floor, defeating three constructs while the rest struggled with one.

The doorway opened.

“Floor 4 complete. Proceed to Floor 5.”

—

Floors 5 through 9 blurred together.

Each floor introduced a new mechanic. A new constraint. A new way to make combat harder.

Floor 5: Gravity manipulation. CE cost tripled for movement-based techniques.

Floor 6: Time dilation zones. Some areas moved faster, others slower. Timing strikes became a nightmare.

Floor 7: Spatial rifts. The floor itself was unstable. Step in the wrong place, fall into the void.

Floor 8: Construct swarms. Twenty constructs, but only Tier 5, one-star. Overwhelming numbers instead of individual strength.

Floor 9: Mirror constructs. They copied the hunters’ techniques perfectly. Fighting yourself.

Owen survived each floor. Barely.

His CE management became obsessive. Every point mattered. He stopped using high-cost techniques unless absolutely necessary. His punches dropped from 30 CE to 20. His dodges became tighter, more efficient.

He learned to predict. To adapt. To survive with minimal waste.

By Floor 9, his CE sat at 520. He’d absorbed cores when he could. Ambient energy when he couldn’t. The dungeon was brutal, but it was also rich with power.

Four hunters remained: Owen, Veyra, the four-armed hunter, and a silent, hooded figure who hadn’t spoken once.

The four-armed hunter had become the de facto leader. Strong, Efficient and Ruthless when necessary.

Veyra stayed close to Owen. Not out of weakness, but strategy. They covered each other’s blind spots.

The hooded figure operated alone. No alliances or wasted words.

They stood before the doorway to Floor 10.

The voice echoed one final time before the separation.

“Floor 10 of 50. Solo floors begin. Parties will be dissolved. Proceed alone. Rewards scale with individual performance. Death is permanent. Begin.”

The doorway split into four separate portals. One for each hunter.

Veyra looked at Owen. “Good luck, False Fist.”

“You too.”

The four-armed hunter said nothing. He walked through his portal without hesitation.

The hooded figure vanished into theirs.

Owen stood before his portal. Violet light swirled within. He could feel the pressure emanating from it. Heavier than anything before.

He stepped through.

The light swallowed him.

—

Floor 10.

The chamber was circular. Small. Intimate. The walls didn’t pulse. They burned. Violet flames that gave off no heat but made the air itself feel heavy.

In the center of the chamber, a single construct waited.

Not humanoid or crystalline.

A beast.

Four legs. Massive shoulders. A head like a dragon’s, but wrong and Twisted. Its scales were made of resonating energy that shifted colors—violet, blue, silver—constantly changing.

[Resonance Beast – Tier 5, Three-Star]

[Ability: Resonance Roar – Disrupts CE flow within a 10-meter radius. All techniques cost double for 30 seconds after activation]

Owen’s jaw tightened as the beast’s eyes locked onto him.

Then it roared.

The sound wasn’t just loud, It was a pressure of pure concentrated force that slammed into Owen’s chest.

His CE core spasmed. Flow disrupted. Techniques now cost double.

Then the beast charged.

Owen barely dodged. Momentum Shift, 20 CE (normally 10, doubled by the roar). The beast’s claws tore through the space he’d occupied.

He rolled, came up, threw a punch. 40 CE (normally 20, doubled).

His fist connected with the beast’s flank.

CRACK!

Scales shattered. But the beast didn’t slow. It spun, faster than anything its size should move, and its tail whipped around.

WHAM!

Owen flew backward. Hit the wall. Pain exploded through his back. His CE dropped to 420. Ultra-Regeneration kicked in, 20 CE (doubled to 40).

His CE: 380.

“Huff, huff, this thing is going to kill me”

The beast stalked forward. Deliberate and Patient. It knew it had the advantage.

Owen pushed himself up. His ribs screamed. His lungs burned.

He activated Dragon’s Eye. Tracked the beast’s movements. Looked for patterns. Weaknesses.

Its front left leg favored weight. An old injury? Or a weakness in the construct’s design?

The beast lunged again.

Owen didn’t dodge fully. He stepped into the strike, letting its claws graze his shoulder instead of his chest. Pain flared. 15 CE lost to damage. But he was inside its guard now.

He drove a 60 CE punch (doubled to 120) into its front left leg.

CRACK!

The leg buckled. The beast stumbled.

Owen didn’t stop. He followed with another punch to the same spot. 120 CE.

CRACK!

The leg shattered completely. The beast collapsed onto its side, roaring in pain and fury.

Its CE flared. Another Resonance Roar building.

Owen didn’t let it finish. He poured everything into his fist. 100 CE (doubled to 200).

[Cosmic Impact Fist]

He drove the punch into the beast’s skull.

BOOM!

The impact shattered the beast’s head. Cracks spread across its entire body. It dissolved into violet light, more intense than any construct before.

The light flowed into Owen. Not just ambient energy. Concentrated power.

[Floor 10 Boss defeated]

[Cosmic Core (Grade 3) acquired]

His CE reserves surged as the core’s energy merged with his center mass, expanding, compressing, refining.

550… 600… 700… 1,000… 1,500.

[DING!]

[Breakthrough complete!]

[Cosmic Rank: Tier 5, Three-Stars]

[Cosmic Energy: 1,500]

Owen collapsed to one knee. His body burned. His core felt like molten metal, reshaping itself, becoming denser, more refined.

When he stood, the chamber felt different. Lighter. His CE flowed smoother, faster, more controlled.

A pedestal rose. On it, a message appeared in glowing text:

“Congratulations. Floor 10 complete. Solo floors 11-50 unlocked. Rest period: 1 hour. Prepare yourself.”

Owen sat. Absorbed ambient energy. Let his CE stabilize at 1,520.

Tier 5, three-stars.

Forty floors to go.

He smiled.

“Bring it on”

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