The Dungeon, the 12th floor.
Upon a grassland terrain blanked by curling white mist, countless roars were currently vibrating through the air, causing the ground beneath to shake along with them.
Leon stood at the absolute center of this vibrating source. One hand gripped a small straight sword while his other arm hung naturally at his side. His expression was completely tranquil, entirely unaffected by this ominous phenomenon.
Squelch— squelch squelch—
The ground cracked open around Leon, and small mounds of earth gradually swelled up.
One after another, massive Orcs dug their way out from the soil. Emitting intimidating roars, they reached out to grab the nearest dead trees, pulling them straight out of the ground to use as clubs. Tightly gripping them in their hands, they radiated waves of sheer ferocity.
"Weee-ooooooh—!"
The Orc closest to Leon was the first to launch an attack. It raised its club high, bringing it down toward Leon's head without a shred of mercy.
The sound of whistling wind erupted, and a violent gust rippled through the air. The club brought down by the massive Orc carried a terrifying momentum, violently striking the position where Leon stood.
Boom!
In the next second, a heavy, echoing crash resounded.
The Orc's relentless strike directly shattered the ground where Leon had been standing, turning it into a deep crater. Thick smoke and dust rose from the impact, blending into the hazy white mist and causing the visibility to drop another notch.
This strength was truly astonishing. Let alone a Level 1, even a Level 2 caught dead-on by that blow would likely be heavily injured on the spot.
Of course, that was assuming it could actually land.
Whish!
A figure moved like a ghost through the hazy mist. In an instant, he bypassed the club embedded in the ground and surged toward the Orc.
Squelch!
A cold, glinting flash of light burst forth. The sharp, small straight sword sliced through the air and tore through the rising smoke, cutting deep into the Orc's body and unleashing a great spray of blood.
This strike was aimed directly at the Orc's abdomen.
That was the area where the Orc's fat and flesh were thickest. In the past, even with the sharpness of the small straight sword, striking that spot would meet immense resistance. To successfully cut open a wound at all would have been considered an excellent result.
However, this time, aided by a staggering amount of force, the slash delivered by the small straight sword was incredibly fast and sharp. Its kinetic energy and acceleration far surpassed anything from before. As a result, this single strike completely sliced open half of the Orc's belly, nearly cutting the creature in two. It unleashed the heaviest spray of blood Leon had ever drawn.
"Weee-ooooooh—!"
The Orc instantly let out an agonizing screech. Its entire massive frame convulsed as it collapsed into a pool of blood, unable to stand again.
"Weee-ooo!"
"Oooh-hoo!"
"Roar-oooooh!"
Witnessing this bloody and horrific scene, the remaining Orcs seemed startled. They couldn't help but take a step back, their original vicious momentum significantly deflating.
Seizing this opportunity, Leon, who had brought an Orc to the brink of death with a single slash, spun his body. His entire figure transformed into a white line, gliding out at an astonishing speed to strike at the other Orcs.
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
Along with the flashing gleams of his sword, three more Orcs had their flesh sliced open by Leon's small straight sword in the blink of an eye. Their muscle was carved open, unleashing large sprays of blood as they fell down screaming.
"Roar-oooooooooooooooooo—!"
Although the remaining Orcs were severely frightened, their instincts as monsters were ultimately driven to frenzy by the bloody slaughter before them. Roaring loudly, they swung their clubs, relentlessly smashing toward that ghostly figure in an attempt to force him to a halt.
Thud! Crash! Bang!
The heavy, colliding sounds of clubs smashing into the ground echoed in rapid succession, causing waves of dust and shattered stones to sweep outward within the air currents.
Yet, Leon was not affected by this fierce wave of offensive strikes in the slightest. His figure darted back and forth between the clubs sweeping toward him with terrifying force, easily evading every single attack.
Sometimes dodging sideways, sometimes leaping vertically, sometimes shifting his weight, and sometimes soaring through the air—Leon evaded the club attacks with the simplest and most effective movements. He looked like an acrobat who had trained for many years. His level of agility was on a completely different tier compared to the past.
The attacks of the Orcs, which had previously felt vaguely threatening, no longer posed the slightest threat in Leon's eyes. They were dissolved by him with absolute ease.
There was no helping it.
"Compared to Ais's attacks, your strikes are miserably slow."
He hadn't realized it before, but now that he had reached Level 2, the Orcs' attacks were simply too slow for Leon. They were so slow that they couldn't even evoke a sense of caution in him.
Consequently, Leon's movements became bolder and more intense.
Bang!
Faced with another club brought down upon his head by an Orc, Leon chose not to evade this time. Instead, he twisted his body and delivered a flying kick, striking the Orc's hand that held the club. With a muffled crack, the club was sent flying, and the Orc's hand was kicked aside.
Squelch!
A cold light flashed. A sharp slash landed on the Orc, who failed to react entirely, slicing open its abdomen and drawing a sudden burst of blood.
"Weee-ooo!"
"Oooh-hoo!"
"Roar-oooooh!"
Seeing this, several Orcs furiously ambushed Leon from behind.
"Hmph!"
Leon let out a soft snort. Without even turning his head, he grabbed the thigh of the agonizingly wailing Orc before him. His figure spun like the wind, moving behind the creature, followed by another flying kick that slammed heavily into the Orc's back. He actually sent the massive creature flying forward.
Boom!
The airborne Orc crashed directly into the several kin rushing forward. In an instant, it was like a strike in bowling, knocking every single one of those Orcs to the ground.
The rest of the Orcs were also tripped up by their fallen companions. Some fell flat on the ground because they couldn't brake in time, while others hurriedly stopped and tried to bypass them, their speed dropping drastically.
Seeing this, Leon narrowed his eyes.
"Perfect. Let's see how the magic has changed."
Because he had already fought a match with Ais back at the Twilight Manor and had engaged in combat with quite a few monsters along the way, Leon had basically adapted to his Level 2 strength by now. The issue of the mind-body disconnect had been greatly alleviated.
Attack, defense, speed, and agility—Leon had adjusted all of these aspects, and he understood exactly how strong he had become at this current stage.
The only capability he hadn't tested yet was his magic.
This was the strongest power Leon possessed. Before leveling up, the Magic stat closely tied to it had already been the strongest among all his basic abilities. After leveling up, he had chosen Mage as his developmental ability, which fully supported and enhanced magic. Under this condition, Leon couldn't even estimate how strong his magic would become when unleashed.
Right now was the absolute best opportunity to test it out.
"Light of the Heavens, Sword of the Stars."
The ultra-short incantation was uttered by Leon in less than a second, completing the most vital and critical procedure before unleashing the magic.
"Meteor Dance!"
Leon chose not to expend extra Mind to boost its power, nor did he choose to append additional attacks. He simply unleashed the magic in its most ordinary state.
Yet, even though he hadn't chosen to expend extra Mind to increase the magic's power and number of strikes, the unleashed magic displayed a completely different form compared to the past.
Buzz!
A gorgeous magic circle unfolded and spun in front of Leon, flashing with dazzling starlight and glowing brilliantly.
This was the phenomenon that could only be triggered by someone who had learned Mage. This magic circle was the proof of a high-tier mage, a device that comprehensively amplified, assisted, and enhanced magic.
Boom!!!
In the next instant, a thick, pillar-like meteor shot out from the magic circle. Carrying a roar that shook the atmosphere, it engulfed the oncoming Orcs.
The large group of Orcs didn't even manage to emit a scream this time. The massive bodies engulfed by the meteor were either annihilated on the spot or had the grazed portions instantly vaporized, completely stripping them of any combat capability.
"This—"
The astonishing sight left even Leon momentarily stunned.
Let alone Leon, even Line, who was watching from a distance while handling the corpses of the monsters and collecting magic stones and dropped items, was startled by this spectacle.
"Mr. Leon's magic—its power has become so strong!"
That power was no longer just something used to deal with monsters categorized merely as Level 1. It would probably be more than enough to deal with Level 3 monsters, wouldn't it?
Mr. Leon's magic had truly become way too powerful after leveling up!
"That magic circle—has Mr. Leon already acquired the Mage developmental ability?"
Line quickly reacted, understanding somewhat why Leon's magic possessed such staggering power.
It wasn't just because the power of the magic itself had grown stronger after leveling up, but also because with the assistance of Mage, this power had ascended by another tier.
"Weee-ooo—"
Not many Orcs remained alive after Leon's magic attack. The steps of those who were charging also came to a complete standstill, and they no longer dared to take a single step forward.
Their instincts as monsters drove them to attack the adventurer before them regardless of life or death, but when the fear within those instincts overrode that ferocity, they instantly panicked. They actually chose to flee.
"Think you can run?"
Looking at the few Orcs scattering and fleeing in different directions, Leon snapped out of his thoughts and unleashed his magic once more.
This time, he didn't even chant the incantation. He directly fired several meteors, letting them pierce through the white mist and shoot toward those few Orcs.
"He—he actually used magic without a chant?!"
Evidently, seeing Leon use magic without chanting an incantation for the first time left Line dumbfounded.
Because magic unleashed without an incantation possessed a rather pitiful power—not even matching half of its normal state—Leon hadn't used his magic this way ever since teaming up with Line. Therefore, the young girl had no idea that Leon's magic could actually be triggered without chanting.
But now, after reaching Level 2, the power of Leon's magic had multiplied greatly. For the monsters of the upper floors, it was already in a state of excessive damage. Thus, Leon no longer needed to stress over the drop in power caused by non-chanted magic.
Even with less than half its power, the current Meteor Dance was still stronger than before his level up. It allowed the meteors to directly break through the thick white mist, dispersing the fog and catching up to the fleeing Orcs.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosive roars echoed out. The meteors that sliced through space and pierced the white mist struck the fleeing Orcs one by one, blasting their bodies into ashes on the spot.
"—It seems I can even do this?"
Leon didn't even look at the final fate of those Orcs. After firing the magic, he fell into a contemplative state, staring at his palm. Immediately after, he unleashed his magic once more in a non-chanted state, causing several magic circles to suddenly manifest around him.
Meteors flew out from the magic circles one after another, but they no longer traveled in a straight line. Instead, as if controlled by an invisible hand, they flew back and forth, freely changing direction and circling above the entire grassland terrain.
That sight left Line utterly entranced.
"Mr. Leon's magic looks so beautiful no matter how many times I see it."
The young girl marveled in her heart, her eyes shining with continuous brilliance.
Leon was also gazing at this scene, gaining a sense of realization in his heart.
"It seems that with the assistance of the Mage developmental ability, my control over this star-attribute magic has also grown stronger."
Leon had discovered before that compared to magic of other attributes, the advantage of his star-attribute magic lay in its exceptionally high controllability.
It was very easy to manipulate, unlike magic of other attributes which was difficult to control. Now that he had the Mage developmental ability, its controllability had become even stronger, to the point where Leon could freely control it to change directions like this.
"Lefiya has a spell among her magic that possesses homing capabilities. As long as I control it properly, my magic can achieve the same thing, or perhaps even do it better."
With a thought from Leon, the meteors instantly flew to his side, darting back and forth around him.
Leon could even make them stop, forcing them to remain perfectly static, before suddenly accelerating and flying off in all directions.
This reconfirmed to Leon that his magic was indeed highly versatile.
Depending on how it was used, this spell could fulfill various roles, including but not limited to single-target attacks, group attacks, homing attacks, small-area attacks, large-area attacks, wide-range annihilation, and even setting traps. It completely achieved with a single spell what multiple spells might not necessarily be able to accomplish.
"The firepower has also undergone a total transformation. While it's still impossible to compare to Lefiya, it shouldn't be considered inferior to an ordinary Level 3 mage, right?"
Thinking of this, Leon couldn't help but look in a certain direction.
"Perhaps this time, we really can head down to the lower floors—"
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