An Orc's thick layer of fat was indeed difficult to overcome. Even with Leon's small straight sword, trying to cut through that mass of blubber remained a daunting task.
Unless Leon's "Strength" could reach Rank A or even Rank S, allowing him to cleave an Orc in two with a single swing of his blade, he had to aim for areas with less fat and weaker protection to deal significant damage. Leon had intended to do exactly that, biding his time as he waited for a chance to counterattack.
Now, having pierced the Orc through the eye, Leon secured a brilliant tactical advantage, driving the monster into a desperate corner.
Puchi!
With a sharp horizontal jerk of his sword arm, the keen blade embedded in the eye socket sliced through half of the monster's head, sending green blood spraying into the air. Leon then kicked off the Orc's chest, leaping backward to evade the creature's death throes.
"Oooooh—"
The Orc's pained howls rapidly grew faint, and its movements slowed, losing the frenzied violence it had displayed earlier. A few moments later, its massive body slowly collapsed, hitting the ground with a heavy thud before falling still. The corpse dissolved into ash, leaving behind a magic stone roughly half the size of a palm.
Leon flicked the blood from his small straight sword before stepping forward to retrieve the stone.
"This size... compared to the stones from small or medium-sized species, it's in a completely different league."
Inspecting the magic stone in his hand, Leon tucked it away.
"Come to think of it, should I hire a Supporter to help collect loot?"
Feeling the small pouch at his waist grow heavy and cumbersome, Leon was struck by the thought.
Supporters, like adventurers, were specialists in Dungeon exploration. The difference was that while adventurers were combatants, Supporters filled a non-combat role. Their primary duty was to recover magic stones and dropped items, though they also provided field assistance by preparing weapons and tools or supplying potions when an adventurer needed replenishment. Their role was to ensure the combatants on the front lines weren't burdened by logistics.
In other words, Supporters were the behind-the-scenes staff whose existence was meant to lighten an adventurer's load. Their work was inconspicuous but indispensable.
In Leon's case, without a Supporter to carry his spoils, he had to strap his unused small buckler to his body and carry potions in his waist pouch. He had to be constantly mindful not to damage them during intense combat, and as for the stones and items he gathered along the way, he had to carry them himself. Not only was it an encumbrance, but it also slowed down the speed at which he could earn money.
As an adventurer, he couldn't fight while carrying a massive rucksack. He could only carry the small pouch attached to his belt, and its capacity was clearly limited. Back when he was a rookie with I-0 in all stats, it took him a long time to defeat enemies, so his collection efficiency was low enough that one small pouch sufficed.
But now, though he hadn't been in the Dungeon long and it wasn't even noon yet, his bag was already reaching its limit. Opening the pouch and looking at the nearly packed magic stones, Leon frowned.
"At this clearing speed, I'll probably have to return to the surface by noon to sell these and empty the bag before I can continue exploring."
This would undoubtedly slow down his progress.
"A Supporter, huh..." Leon mused.
Generally, in large Familia, the role of a Supporter was filled by newcomers or low-level members. In the Loki Familia, for instance, during expeditions, many Level 2 and Level 3 members would serve as Supporters so that the high-level front-liners could focus entirely on combat.
In the deepest regions of the Dungeon, even someone like Raul at Level 4 would have to take on Supporter duties, because on those floors, only First-Tier adventurers of Level 5 or higher could truly operate effectively.
Of course, that was the standard for the Loki Familia. Ordinary Familia could never afford to have upper-class adventurers of Level 2 or higher acting as Supporters; they simply weren't that decadent. Some small Familia had only a few members, all of whom had to fight on the front lines, otherwise, they would lack the combat power to explore successfully. In such cases, there was no one to spare for support work.
Under these circumstances, adventurers usually chose to hire people from outside their Familia to act as Supporters. Some of these hires were people who weren't valued within their own Familia; others were those whose potential had been exhausted or whose stats were too weak to explore alone. Unable to find a party to join, they were forced to become Supporters, earning a living through commissions.
Leon often saw such people. They usually loitered in the central plaza in front of the Tower of Babel, pitching themselves to passing adventurers in desperate hopes of being hired. Now, Leon felt he reached the point where he needed that kind of help.
"But then again, no one in my Familia can act as my Supporter," Leon sighed.
His Familia was too strong. The members were all upper-class adventurers of at least Level 2. How could they possibly act as a Supporter for a Level 1 newcomer like him? During Familia expeditions, some Level 2 seniors weren't even qualified to go as Supporters and had to stay behind to guard the headquarters. In a small or medium Familia, such a thing would be unthinkable.
Given Leon's current strength, it would be more appropriate for him to act as a Supporter for his seniors; he certainly couldn't ask them to do it for him. Therefore, his only option was to hire an outsider.
Shasha—
As Leon was lost in thought, he suddenly heard a rustling nearby. Snapping back to his senses, he scanned his surroundings and found numerous dark shadows approaching through the thin mist, surrounding him. As they drew closer, their footsteps on the grassland made the rustling sound distinct, accompanied by a faint sound like the licking of lips.
"Chaaar!"
Soon, the full appearance of the monsters entered Leon's view. They were greyish-black with large heads and small bodies. A sharp little horn protruded from their foreheads, and they had long, thin tails, resembling small imps.
"These are... Imps?"
Leon recognized them. Imps, like Orcs, were monsters that only began to appear from the 10th floor of the Dungeon. However, they were not a Large-Type species; they were Small-Type monsters, similar to Goblins and Kobolds.
Individually, they weren't strong—certainly no stronger than the Goblins or Kobolds on the 8th or 9th floors—but they were cunning and clever. They always fought in groups and had a higher spawn rate than Orcs, specializing in overwhelming adventurers with sheer numbers.
"Gii!"
"Chaaar!"
A swarm of Imps emerged from the mist with high-pitched cackles, lunging at him from all directions the moment they revealed themselves. Leon immediately leaped into the air, evading the multi-directional strike, but the Imps seemed to have anticipated this move, hurling stones at him while he was airborne.
Pa—papapa—
Leon parried the incoming stones with instinctive swings of his small straight sword, but the Imps continued their barrage, intent on knocking him down.
"You guys are getting annoying."
Seeing the large number of Imps gathered below, Leon didn't hesitate and activated his magic.
"[Light of the Heavens, Sword of the Stars.]"
"[Meteor Dance]!"
Streaks of starlight rose from behind Leon, turning into meteors that raced through the air before plunging downward.
Boom boom boom boom—!
The falling stars struck the ground repeatedly, kicking up dust and triggering explosions. The group of Imps, who had been snickering a second ago, panicked instantly. They scattered in terror, but few could escape the radius of the meteor shower. One by one, the Imps were either blown away or pierced through, dissolving into black ash with agonized shrieks, leaving behind crystals significantly smaller than an Orc's magic stone.
Leon's figure descended from the air. The moment his feet touched the ground, he lunged forward, charging toward the remaining Imps that were fleeing in all directions.
Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!—
In an instant, sword light flashed in a wild dance. The sharp straight sword cut down the panicked Imps one after another, eliciting a chorus of death cries. Some said a swarm of Imps was harder to deal with than a lone Orc, but for Leon, who possessed area-of-effect attacks, numbers were irrelevant.
Compared to the thick-skinned Orcs that resisted his blade, these Imps—who could be decapitated with a single swing—were much easier to handle, at least for someone like him.
By the time Leon finished off the entire swarm, he wasn't even winded. He simply looked at the ground covered in magic stones and let out a long, weary sigh.
"There's no other way. I have to go back for now."
With the addition of these stones, the small pouch at his waist simply wouldn't fit anymore. After picking them all up, Leon had to resort to putting the remaining stones into another small pouch intended for drop items he didn't plan to sell to the Guild.
Laden with a bountiful harvest, Leon began the trek out of the 10th floor and toward the upper levels with a wry smile. Today, he was destined to deal with the burden of success.
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