Monsters and humans were clearly different.
Humans would adjust their thinking as a battle changed, but monsters would launch full-force attacks without the slightest hesitation.
Even if it meant trading injury for injury.
Would they die?
Monsters never considered that.
But humans did, because a human only had one life. Once dead, nothing would remain.
"No wonder those adventurers value their armor so much. I finally understand a little."
Among all of Elise's abilities, without using faith, the only things that could barely produce a healing effect were her Power of the Stars and Est's Holy attribute.
In other words, if Elise were injured here, she would have to expend far more energy to recover.
Although her body would no longer age and she did not need food to sustain her energy—because she could dispel hunger and fatigue through rest alone, and her stamina would effectively recover—she still would not be able to endure prolonged combat.
If she became overly exhausted inside the Dungeon, Elise would not be able to withstand it. And at that point, what awaited her would be death.
Therefore, proper rest and food would accelerate her recovery, allowing her to return to fighting condition more quickly.
Elise picked up the dropped item from the ground. It was the claw that had blocked the holy sword earlier. Although the kobold had died, this claw had not disappeared.
"This should be worth more than a magic stone, right?" She examined the kobold's claw in her hand and lightly touched it. "It can indeed serve as material for crafting weapons. But compared to Est, it's still far inferior."
Should she sell it?
If she sold this item, she could probably exchange it for quite a bit of valis.
But...
As the first member—and captain—of the Astraea Familia, Elise had to consider the Familia's future. She knew very well what kind of members would eventually join.
"Forget it. I'm not particularly short on valis anyway." Elise stored the dropped kobold claw in her spatial bag. "If I come across items like this in the future, I'll collect them all."
"I'll treat it as preparing equipment for future Familia members."
After making her preparations, Elise continued heading down to the lower floors.
However, the monsters on these Upper Floors were truly too weak for her. The earlier kobold had managed to block her attack only because she had not been serious, merely swinging casually.
Once Elise became serious, such threats ceased to exist. Against these minor foes, a single strike was enough to kill.
Holding her holy sword, Elise carved her way from the fourth floor all the way to the twelfth without even blinking!
Along the way, she encountered many monsters: pitch-black shadow-like creatures, giant ants with razor-sharp hooked claws, horned rabbits, and countless other strange beings.
But beneath Elise's icy blade, they all turned into black smoke, leaving behind only magic stones.
"The next one should be the twelfth floor, right?" Elise flew at high speed and soon arrived at the twelfth floor.
"This is the final area of the Upper Floors. I'll stop here today. I'll farm a bit more and then head back."
From the tenth floor downward, the Dungeon's environmental mechanisms began to appear. Frost or mist would form, obstructing visibility and greatly disrupting an adventurer's sense of direction.
Fortunately, Elise did not rely on her eyes to see. Her Power of the Stars spread outward, forming a three-dimensional map within her mind.
No matter what monster spawned nearby, she could react instantly.
And Est was not idle either. Although she had become a sword in Elise's hand, the moment Elise faced danger, she could immediately release her skills.
"Roar—!"
A massive silver ape burst from the ground with a deafening roar.
It immediately locked onto the only living being present—Elise—and slammed its enormous fist downward.
But when it lifted its fist, Elise was nowhere to be seen.
"Roar?"
A white radiance appeared above it. The ape hurriedly looked up, only to see a sight like a star-filled night sky—though it likely had no concept of beauty...
Countless stellar sword energies surged toward the silverback ape, forcing it to raise its massive arms to shield its head in an attempt to block the attack.
Unfortunately, it lasted less than three seconds before nothing remained but a magic stone dropping onto the ground.
"I really need to properly assess my own strength. If every battle is an instant kill, how am I supposed to improve?"
In terms of pure physical ability, Elise was merely at the peak of an ordinary human powerhouse. In this world, that was not considered exceptional.
However, matching a Level 2 adventurer was more than manageable.
Combined with her use of the Power of the Stars and Est's strength, if one insisted on calculating it, she could already reach the level of this world's first-tier adventurers—around Level 5.
If a Level 5 couldn't defeat a monster from the twelfth floor, the people of Orario would laugh their heads off!
"Judging by the time, it should be getting close to night. I'll stop at the twelfth floor today and continue tomorrow."
After dealing with the silverback ape, Elise had no intention of going any deeper. She turned and headed back the way she came.
At her speed, she could certainly return to Babel within an hour.
It was worth mentioning that, in Elise's view, an adventurer's life was not only uninteresting—it was downright tedious.
In this Dungeon-centered world, where so-called "high technology" did not exist, entertainment options were actually quite limited. There were essentially no games to play.
Even the most famous "game" was not purely a game.
For ordinary adventurers, the only real activity available to them was exploring the Dungeon.
Enter the Dungeon, defeat monsters, obtain magic stones and materials in exchange for valis, hone techniques, and increase ability values.
Day after day. Year after year.
That was why an adventurer's life was so monotonous. Aside from battle, there was little else left in their lives.
As a result, adventurers accumulated tremendous pressure. Some could not relieve it, and their personalities gradually twisted, becoming the kind of evil adventurers people spoke of.
Where some failed to release that pressure, others found ways to do so.
As for how they released it—you would know if you visited the Pleasure Quarter.
Thus, the Pleasure Quarter was an indispensable part of Orario.
And the "game" mentioned earlier also originated there...
When Elise returned to the seventh floor, she sensed a distinct tremor and heard strange, continuous cries in the distance.
There were definitely quite a lot of them.
"Why are there so many monsters here?"