After a cheerful breakfast, Elise brought Est with her and entered the Dungeon once more. This time, she intended to put her previous idea into action.
She was going to imitate those people she had encountered before and artificially create a Monster Feria.
Last night, Elise had asked Astraea to update her status. As a result, all her attributes had risen from G-297 to D-491.
Even Astraea had been shocked by Elise's terrifying rate of growth and hurriedly asked what she had done the previous day. Elise explained everything in an orderly manner.
Elise felt that while her improvement might not amount to much compared to the many reincarnated predecessors out there, for the humans of this world, it was absolutely monstrous!
In just one afternoon and evening, each of her attributes had increased by nearly 200 points!
What did that mean?
It meant that in less than five days, Elise could go from a rookie adventurer with all attributes at 0 to a top-tier adventurer with all attributes at S-999.
How were those who had been stuck at Lv1 or Lv2 for years, even decades—or even their entire lives—supposed to feel?
Elise remembered that Ais had taken nearly a year to advance from Lv1 to Lv2. As for the protagonist Bell, it had taken him almost a month to level up from Lv1.
Then what was Elise's five-day advancement supposed to be?
Wouldn't that just grind them into the dirt?
"But my growth must have its limits, right?"
Elise was well aware that she possessed only one skill that enhanced her growth potential.
[Saintess of Scales]
- When gaining ability points, they are evenly distributed across all attributes.
- When walking the path of a saintess, all abilities are greatly enhanced, and growth speed increases significantly.
If she wanted to increase her growth rate, Elise had to "walk the path of a saintess."
After yesterday's events, she more or less understood what that "path of a saintess" entailed.
Her improvement from fighting her way from the fourth floor to the twelfth floor probably had not been particularly significant. The key must have been when she faced the killer ant swarm later and experienced that sudden explosive growth.
Because at that time, she had been saving others!
Wasn't a saintess saving people precisely the path of a saintess?
That was why she had experienced such terrifying growth!
"If I just grind monsters and level up from now on, I probably won't see that kind of improvement again, right?"
"If I want to become stronger, walking the path of a saintess is necessary too!"
So if she lured monsters toward others and then stepped in to resolve the situation, would that also count as walking the path of a saintess?
Elise did not know.
But she could try!
As for her target, she could simply pick any adventurer judged as evil by her skill.
If there really weren't any... ahem!
How could that be possible?
If I say he's evil, then he's evil!
...
This time, Elise did not linger on the upper floors. Instead, she went straight to the middle floors—the area of the fifteenth floor...
And directly triggered a Monster Feria!
A "Monster Feria" referred to a phenomenon unique to floors beyond the tenth—when the Dungeon suddenly spawned a large number of monsters to launch an assault on adventurers.
What Elise had faced with the killer ants before did not count. At most, that had been a siege tactic, not a true Monster Feria. A proper Monster Feria should involve a greater variety of monsters. Otherwise, how could it be called a feast?
As for how Elise triggered it...
Naturally, by exterminating every single monster on the surrounding floors within a short period of time!
Perhaps that would activate the Dungeon's special mechanism and provoke a Monster Feria to eliminate the intruder... and if that failed, Elise could always start destroying the floor itself!
If you don't come, I'll just keep killing monsters and keep destroying things!
Elise expanded her perception. Within the entire range of the fifteenth floor, no matter where a monster appeared, she would immediately swing her sword and kill it in an instant!
Some monsters did not even manage to break through the soil. They had only just formed underground before Elise eliminated them along with the surrounding earth!
Whether walls, floors, or ceilings, everything was riddled with holes by her relentless assault.
After more than an hour of brutal slaughter, the Dungeon finally responded to Elise's actions!
The Monster Feria... had arrived!
Great tigers, worms, bats, and even Minotaurs emerged throughout the floor. Even their spawning intervals became incredibly short.
Groups of monsters fixed their gaze on the lone human in the field and let out earth-shaking roars!
"Heh... in that case, I won't hold back. Time to dig in!"
...
Within the Dungeon, adventurers could be found on nearly every floor. They would choose floors suited to their level and ability.
Only in this way could they obtain the greatest possible returns within their capabilities.
Elise had confirmed through advance perception that no one was present on the fifteenth floor before triggering the Monster Feria.
But that did not mean there were no adventurers on the nearby floors!
"Hey, hey! What's that commotion?"
The adventurers on the sixteenth floor felt the disturbance from above and broke out in cold sweat.
"Isn't that a bit too abnormal?"
Their current position was extremely unfavorable.
Strange tremors were coming from above, suggesting the presence of a large number of monsters, while below them lay the chamber of the floor boss.
Although the floor boss of the seventeenth floor was periodically cleared out, calculating the timing, it was probably close to respawning, wasn't it?
As a group of Lv2 adventurers, they did not have the confidence to face a floor boss.
"How about we go up and take a look?"
"If something's wrong, we'll run back down."
With that plan decided, several adventurers stepped into the fifteenth floor.
The moment they entered, the earlier tremors grew even more intense.
So the problem really was on this floor!
But what exactly was happening?
Curiosity really does kill the cat.
Simply because of curiosity, these adventurers had stepped into this dangerous floor!
They pressed their backs against the wall and advanced quietly. But from around the corner came a terrifying howl!
That was the sound of a Minotaur!
Adventurers who had long frequented these floors instantly recognized the source of that voice.
"Then who exactly is fighting those monsters?"
The adventurer scouting at the front had just begun to lean out when he suddenly felt a breath of hot air against the back of his neck.
"Hey! Stop messing around back there. This is a critical moment!"
"Huh? What are you talking about? We haven't moved at all."
Only then did the adventurer realize something was wrong. He remembered clearly that he had been standing with his back against the wall.
The back of his neck should have been against the wall, shouldn't it?
Then why...
Tilting his head slightly, he saw that a crack had somehow split open in the wall. From within it, a pair of crimson eyes stared directly at him!
"Not good! It's a monster!"
Boom—
"MooOOOOOOOO!!!!"
The massive Minotaur roared as it burst through the wall—