Hero Of Harmony

With the three of us exploring the dungeon, killing any and all enemies we came across, we moved through the floors relatively fast; however, something I didn't notice initially, thanks to Lazuli and Yuki both destroying their enemies, the golems have a small crystal inside their body where their mana is stored. The crystal is about the size of a child's hand and is surprisingly fragile as I'm able to crush it within my hands, but it also seems to be the lifeblood of the golems, and so long as this isn't destroyed, they will continuously regenerate, yet, there seems to be a little trick to bypass this.

If you fill the crystal with more mana than what's originally in there, the golem will cease to exist, though you've got to be a little careful since depending on how much mana there is inside of it determines how much of it you must force out of the crystal, and if one is too aggressive, it'll damage the crystal, probably even break it as well. An easy way to get around this was to simply fight or keep the golem alive for longer, forcing it to use more of its mana, and once it's depleted a lot, then kill the monster.

"And that is crystal number thirteen." Muttered Alexander with a faint smile as he held a small crystal in his hand, which was softly glowing, before storing it within his space pouch.

"I've got one as well; here you go, Alex." Said Yuki lightly as she used her hand to pierce into a golem's chest cavity before forcefully ripping out a small crystal, which she handed to Alexander.

"Thanks, though; you know you can continue to try practicing with it if you want; destroying a few doesn't bother me." Remarked Alexander lightly as he grabbed the crystal and carefully injected his mana into it while speaking with Yuki.

"I know, but I've already destroyed enough; besides, we could use the money right now." Said Yuki with a shake of her head as she glanced at Alexander with slight envy before turning and walking deeper into the dungeon, prompting him and Lazuli to follow.

"Yeah, you're not wrong." Muttered Alexander with a nod as he glanced at the glowing crystal in his hand before storing it within his space pouch.

"So, how have you been enjoying the dungeon so far, Lazuli?" Asked Alexander curiously as he turned and walked backward while glancing at Lazuli, using [Heroes Gaze] so that he wouldn't get taken by surprise.

"There are many enemies, and the enemies are brainless." Stated Lazuli blandly as she looked at Alexander, who nodded.

"Yeah, well, this is kind of like their home, so you know, it makes sense; as for them being stupid, well, they have a brain, but they've got no soul or ego, so they're not even alive in a sense." Said Alexander lightly as he glanced before shifting his focus to Yuki, who had smashed through several other golems.

"Alex!" Yelled Yuki as she held three small crystals in her hand, causing Alexander to turn back around as he approached her.

"Yes, yes, I can hear you; no need to yell." Muttered Alexander with a nod as he grabbed the three crystals while slapping Yuki's butt, causing him to suddenly hit himself in the face.

"How the hell did I only notice it after four floors? Yuki, you're not wearing any armor." Remarked Alexander lightly as he pointed at Yuki, who was wearing casual clothes, though funnily enough, so was he.

"No, my armor was pretty much destroyed when we fought that one monster; besides, you're also not wearing any armor." Replied Yuki as she glanced down at herself while shaking her head with an unsightly expression before pointing at Alexander.

"True, but the difference is, you were a full set of heavy ass armor, while I barely even wear armor in the first place; I've been meaning to get better armor, but you know, considering the fact I've got exceptional healing, it hasn't been that much of a concern for me." Stated Alexander as he glanced at himself before shaking his head, storing the three crystals, which were already filled with his mana, in his space pouch.

I didn't wish to possibly jinx us, but the dungeon was hardly a threat to us, given the fact Yuki and I were casually chatting; of course, both of us had our guards up, but the fact we were able to talk like we're walking through a forest, said a lot about the threat of this dungeon. Yuki was able to smash through the stone golems with ease, while I could slice through them even easier; as for Lazuli, her cannon of mana also got the job done; hell, if she truly wanted to, she could turn her arms into blades and cut the golems, they were strong and sharp enough to do so, though she seemed more content using mana.

"Speaking of mana, here, why don't you try this, Lazuli." Said Alexander lightly as he grabbed the crystal from a fallen golem and handed it to Lazuli, who tilted her head in confusion.

"Just inject your mana into the crystal, but be careful; you'll have to wrestle with mana already inside of it." Said Alexander with a faint smile as he stood beside Lazuli, who nodded before shifting her focus to the crystal and doing what he had said, only for it to explode a few seconds later.

"Hmm, I understand." Said Lazuli with a nod as she wiped her hands clean before walking forward while Alexander gave her a curious look.

'She understands? What does she mean by that?' Thought Alexander curiously at Lazuli in slight hope while closely following her.

When we came across another golem, Lazuli blasted it with her wave of mana from her arm cannon while not even slowing down; once she neared the monster, she reached into its chest and grabbed the crystal, which Lazuli had excellently avoided; however, before my very eyes, I watched as how she filled the crystal with mana while having forcefully pushed the other mana out, all without even so much as cracking the crystal.

"Is this acceptable?" Asked Lazuli as she turned to Alexander while he gave her a shocked expression.

"You know, a very small part of me was somewhat expecting this to happen, but my goodness, you're one quick freaking leaner; is this acceptable? Lazuli, this is probably even better than what I can do; without a little bit more practice, I definitely would've at least cracked the crystal, considering how much mana was still in it." Replied Alexander softly as he held the crystal with his hands before looking at Lazuli in slight awe while she nodded with the faintest smile from his praise.

"Yuki, from now on, give the crystals to Lazuli." Said Alexander as he stored the crystal in his pouch while glancing at Yuki, who reluctantly nodded before approaching Lazuli with two crystals in hand.

"Here, Lazuli." Said Yuki without an ounce of emotion as she stood in front of Lazuli while forcefully placing the crystals into her hands before turning around, not saying a single other word.

Shaking my head at Yuki and Lazuli's interaction, we continued through the fourth floor, encountering many golems along the way, but they were honestly more of a nuisance than a threat if anything; we did happen to come across a group of adventurers, who all blankly looked at us when they saw Yuki effortlessly smash a golem they were having some trouble with, which was a little funny, but we all kept our distance from each other as those adventurers were much more of a threat than these monsters were.

"Hmm, looks like this is the fifth floor." Muttered Alexander lightly as he grabbed both his greatswords off his back while Yuki's ethereal shield appeared on her forearms.

As we entered the fifth floor, home to the guardians, we entered a large cavern, and standing in the distance was a massive golem at least five times the size of the normal ones, which is saying something, given the normal ones are all roughly Yuki's size, and I was but a kid compared to her.

"Alex, can I fight him by myself?" Asked Yuki as she looked at Alexander, her words slightly taking him aback as he glanced at the slowly approaching monster.

"I mean… If you think you can go ahead, just be careful. Wait, though, let's at least see if the monster has any traits you should watch out for." Replied Alexander with a nod, his words causing Yuki to smile, yet he promptly stopped her before she could charge head first.

Using my [Heroes Gaze], I scanned the guardian's status panel, and other than straight-forward traits like [Iron physique] and [Abnormal Strength], which were both Rare and the only two traits the monster had, it seemed to be a very straight forward boss, so I let Yuki go and have her fun. However, watching someone who is only a fifth the size of their enemy demolish them was quite the sight, to say the least; I wouldn't say the fight was one-sided in Yuki's favor, given that their strength and endurance seemed to be relatively equal, the only problem was, one of them was obviously faster than the other; the time it took for the golem to attack, Yuki would've already punched the monster several times.

'I don't know whether to be impressive or terrified; I'm very thankful that sexy hunk of a woman is my lover.' Mused Alexader wryly with a nervous gulp as he watched Yuki pummel the golem's leg until she destroyed it, causing the monster to fall, which spelled the end for it.