Now with a goal in mind, I took a minute to study the map I'd been given. It was relatively simple, though there were a few landmarks in the form of massive mountains. The map seemed to serve as a compass more than anything, as it pointed in a direction for him to follow, with a simple representation of all the gates he would have to pass through.
So he started to walk past all sorts of strange-looking devils, some looked more like animals than anything, but most stayed away from him as he didn't do anything to conceal his mana.
Though a few more rabid devils did try to stalk him some, he just sped up to lose them as he made his way to the gate that would take me to the second level of the Underworld.
Upon seeing the gate from a distance, I sped up and raced forward, but as the mana of the gate pressed down on me, I noticed another pair of signatures and slid to a halt a few meters away from the gate.
"How interesting, Nahamah! This little devil actually was able to sense us, how strange!" A high-pitched voice said as two devils descended. Both were humanoids with the same feeling mana that the strange devil had, just not as overwhelming as his was.
"Tell me, how did you sense us? Oh no, don't spoil the fun, I'd rather hear you scream!" The obvious female devil said as she squirmed and hugged herself at whatever she was thinking about. The male devil looked at her in disgust before turning to me, "Lilith is a bit confused. Why are you here?" It asked as I explained.
"I'm trying to get to the lowest layer of the Underworld. Can I pass through this gate?" I didn't like the feeling of oppression I was getting from the pair, but I would fight them if I had to get through the gate.
The male devil shrugged, "If that's how you want to die, I'm not going to stop you. What'd you think, Lilith?" He asked his companion as she pouted at me, "Are you sure you wanna go down to the bottom? It's really scary, why go when you can stay here and play with me~" She said, getting closer and flaunting her curves.
I shook my head as I kept my eyes on hers, "I want to get through, sorry." She pouted as Nahamah took out a key, and she did the same. They then went to the gate and unlocked it. Feeling the mana stop pouring off it and watching it open, I thanked the strange pair and then passed through the gate. A few moments later, it shut behind me as the mana zapped me for being too close as I kept walking.
As I walk, I feel a flare of mana off in the distance, and a rain of arrows starts to fall around me. Reinforcing my body, I start to run towards the danger since there's no cover around me. As I get closer to where the arrows are coming from, I feel the mana of the devil as it creates more bows to shoot at me with.
'Stronger than the mindless devils from the first level, but weaker than the strong pair from the gate. Must be a mid-rank like the one I fought the first time.' Observation is good, but getting closer to the devil didn't help as a flare of mana flashed as the devil swung a sword at me.
Diving out of the way, I slashed at its legs as I passed by, but it just created a tower shield and let it take the blow as I scrambled to my feet and created distance.
It followed right behind me as we started a deadly dance where I had to get lucky consistently, and it only had to get lucky once. As I fought the devil, I realised that despite using a sword, it was trying to keep me at a distance, so logically it shouldn't be that good at close quarters, right?
Well, to test that out, I would have to get past the spear currently being jabbed at me and then somehow deal with the sword it will definitely draw the second I get past this spear.
Getting an idea, I twist to let the spear pass by, and I grab it by the haft and pull it with all my strength, ripping it from the devil's grasp as I acquire a weapon. That doesn't seem to faze the devil, as it just makes another spear, but now with a weapon, I can make use of all the training the stupid turtle made me go through about four worlds ago.
With a shout, I charge and push more mana into my legs to build speed as I parry a blow from the devil's spear and slam my spear into its gut. It staggers with a shriek, but that doesn't matter as it takes a punch to the face, as we go down in a tangle of limbs and flashing magic.
Squarely on top, I start to pummel the devil below me. It brings another shield to bear, but before it can form completely, I rip it off and bash it in the head with it, stunning it as I slam my fists repeatedly into its face. It tries again to create something, but anything it makes, I turn against it before it foolishly tries to make a dagger and stab me.
It almost works, but I notice at the last second, and I headbutt the devil, getting a split second while it was stunned to grab the blade and stab it in the throat, twisting the blade. It gurgles in pain and fury as it clutches at its throat. I'm about to get off and watch it die when I feel a pulse of mana below me. Freezing, I realize it's coming from the devil below me, from its heart. Realizing it might not be dead yet, I stab it in the chest, having to do so several times with how tough the skin is, before I'm finally able to pierce the heart, killing it.
As the devil's mana grows weaker, I climb off of it as I feel something inside me ignite. Like a spark in the dark, reaching for it, I get nothing, but when I try the same thing using mana, a sword materializes in my hand. Time to experiment!
This new magic is pretty good. First, I did the usual, creating swords, spears, and other cold weapons that I'm familiar with and have trained with, then I moved on to more fun things, modern guns. It was a lot more difficult; most cold weapons only used a fraction of my mana, but the modern weapons took a decent chunk just to make the weapon itself, since I still had to make the ammunition for the things.
So after some more trial and error, I was able to narrow it down to a few things that were the most cost-effective. For close quarters, I'd obviously be using a sword, and a spear for mid-range. Long range was the tricky part, since I didn't think 9mm would even pierce the skin, skin a test on my own flesh left the bullets flat, and they left only little white marks on the skin of the dead devil still next to me.
All of that while it was dead and not actively channeling mana into its body, so I moved onto higher calibers. Some did a little damage, which might work on the right spot, the only drawback being the insane amount of mana it took to create the ammo.
So I ultimately settled on using a .4t magnum, as it had decent stopping power and was easy to hide, so I stayed there for a bit, letting my mana recover and making a few more magazines of .45 before moving on deeper into the second level.