Touching the small straight sword at his waist that had accompanied him for a month, Leon recalled today's battle in the Middle Floors.
The combat intensity on the 13th floor was indeed very high. Not only were there Al-Miraj legions classified as Lv.2 that excelled at group warfare, but there were also Hellhounds whose breath-fire could kill a large swath of upper-class adventurers. Coupled with monsters like Hard Armored that were already troublesome and difficult to deal with in the Upper Floors, after this full day of fighting, Leon had inevitably been injured several times despite possessing magical firepower comparable to a Lv.3.
Several times Leon had fallen into perilous situations, such as being cornered into a dead end by countless Al-Miraj. For this, he even had to release the restrictions on his mental power and use high-powered magic multiple times, nearly causing mental exhaustion. But even so, he still needed Line by his side to support and heal him to turn danger into safety and ultimately successfully endure it.
But while he personally could endure it, the weapon in his hand had nearly failed to hold up.
It was fine when dealing with Al-Miraj; that kind of monster was naturally squishy and wasn't too difficult to slash. When dealing with Hellhounds, it was already somewhat forced; the opponent's pelt and robust muscles required Leon to slash with all his might just to sink the blade in. And when dealing with the Hard Armored, which were famously harder than turtles, his small straight sword striking them would only friction out large sheets of sparks. Let alone slashing out a wound, even leaving a white mark on the Hard Armored was difficult.
The result was that the small straight sword in his hand suffered continuous wear and tear. By the time Leon snapped out of it, it was already full of notches, and he basically could no longer slash through Hellhounds and Hard Armored, only barely able to slash the squishy Al-Miraj.
This made Leon realize that he had leveled up, and the floors he was conquering had also come to the Middle Floors, so the weapon in his hand ought to be upgraded as well.
No matter how sharp or high the quality, if it wasn't a special armament, dealing with those monsters classified as Lv.1 was fine, but wanting to deal with Middle Floor monsters classified as Lv.2 was simply pushed to the absolute limit.
And this was just at the starting point of the Middle Floors, on the 13th floor.
What if he continued to go deeper in the future?
What if he went to the 14th floor, 15th floor, 16th floor, or even to the end of the rocky cavern labyrinth on the 17th floor?
Then sooner or later, he probably wouldn't even be able to slash through squishy monsters, right?
Ordinary iron was ultimately ordinary iron. Dealing with ordinary monsters was fine, but wanting to use it to deal with monsters that could compare to enhanced upper-class adventurers was undoubtedly an idiot's dream.
Therefore, he really had to change weapons.
"Mr. Leon is still a magic swordsman, and a magic swordsman who has mastered 'Magecraft' at that. Aside from a sword, you should probably also prepare a staff, right?"
Line looked at Leon, who had fallen into silence, and spoke in a low voice.
"Whether it's special armaments or staffs, they aren't cheap at all. It just so happens that Mr. Leon's debut time isn't long yet. Unlike others who stay at Lv.1 for several years, even if they save up slowly, they've already saved enough money to replace their equipment."
Therefore, Line knew that Leon was very short on money.
Especially after knowing that his growth speed was so astonishing, Line knew that Leon would only be shorter on money in the future. Because the faster he grew, the more his weapons and equipment would need to be upgraded; otherwise, it simply wouldn't keep up with his increasingly high combat intensity.
"I can't help with anything practical either, so I can only do this and support you people fighting on the front lines as much as possible."
Line said somewhat timidly, "Please accept it, Mr. Leon."
Hearing this, Leon wanted to say something more, but after seeing Line's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to speak.
This seemingly gentle and frail girl had her own persistence in her heart; Leon had known this long ago.
In the original work, it was precisely because she was unwilling to abandon her companions and insisted on carrying away the wounded to help the front-line combat personnel that she encountered danger and ultimately remained there forever.
She knew she wasn't good at fighting, so she wanted to do her own job well and help the people fighting on the front lines as much as possible.
It was the same now.
Seeing Leon, a genius who had cut a striking figure in the Familia with a promising future, Line admired him, looked up to him, and respected him, while also thinking about what help she could give him.
She was his supporter. Since that was the case, she had to support him and help him grow as much as possible in places outside of combat.
"But—"
After listening, Leon still wanted to say something, but Line didn't give him the chance to speak anymore.
"If Mr. Leon still feels that this isn't good, I will go back and tell Miss Ais."
Line's voice was timid, but the content directly grasped Leon's painful spot.
"At that time, if Miss Ais knows that Mr. Leon is short on money, she will definitely give you all of her savings directly."
This time, Leon truly shut his mouth.
Mainly, this was absolutely not a joke, but something that would actually happen.
Thinking back to the beginning, Leon had only just become an adventurer, and Ais had directly brought over two Elixirs with a value equivalent to millions of Valis to give to him. If she knew he was in urgent need of money, how could she not deliver her entire fortune to Leon?
An Elixir, the highest-grade spiritual medicine, rumored to be able to cure anything as long as one wasn't dead. Which Lv.1 rookie adventurer would use this thing?
Let alone a Lv.1 rookie adventurer, even a third-class adventurer of Lv.2 couldn't afford this thing. Even for second-class adventurers of Lv.3 and Lv.4, using this thing was somewhat wasteful. Only first-class adventurers of Lv.5 and above would use it as a standard configuration.
The spiritual medicines others gave Leon were at most high-grade spiritual medicines, magical spiritual medicines, or antidotes worth tens of thousands of Valis. Who would throw two Elixirs right off the bat like Ais?
If he hadn't been too reckless before leveling up and the injuries he suffered weren't too severe, Leon would certainly have been reluctant to use those two Elixirs. After using them up, it even pained his heart for a long time, only feeling that those newly grown flesh and bones on his body had become much more expensive, and he didn't dare let them get injured again.
Under such circumstances, if Ais knew Leon was short on money, she could certainly do something like sending money directly.
Although this bowl of soft rice tasted very sweet—after all, the opponent was a first-class adventurer who ought to have a deposit of several million or even tens of millions of Valis on her body, and giving Leon just a little could solve his current needs—Leon also cared about his pride and truly couldn't perform an operation like asking a girl of the same age for money.
This was even calculated according to his current age; if calculated by his age before crossing over, he was much older than Ais.
In comparison, taking the lion's share here didn't count for much. No matter what, this money was earned by his own hands, and it wasn't like Line didn't take any.
"Alright then."
Leon could only accept this matter track-mindedly.
Worst case, when he wasn't short on money in the future, he would make it up to Line.
And regarding that matter, since he already knew about it, he couldn't let it happen again.
This girl who was extremely considerate of her Familia companions shouldn't wither away in that false underground labyrinth.
But if he wanted to be of use in that incident and change this ending, his current strength was still far from enough.
Lv.2?
This didn't even have the qualification to get an entry ticket in that incident!
He had to be at least Lv.5, or even Lv.6, to have the ability to change the course of events within it.
"Fortunately, there is still time."
Leon tightly gripped the money bag in his hand, the floating light in his eyes sinking and shifting.
Before those incidents arrived, he had to work hard—no, he had to risk his life.
This was also for himself.
After all, only by becoming more powerful could he protect himself, protect Line, and also protect Ais in those oncoming dangers—
At night, Leon and Line quietly returned to the Twilight Manor.
At this time, dinner time had just ended. Line met an acquaintance after entering the door and left talking and laughing together.
Leon didn't run into Raul and the others. After inquiring, he learned that he and several members with good relationships had left the headquarters for the Dungeon in the morning and hadn't returned until now.
Not just Raul; many people in the Familia seemed to have gone to the Dungeon today, including Tiona and Tione, resulting in—
Today's headquarters didn't appear lively at all, but was instead somewhat deserted.
Leon didn't run into Ais either. He didn't know if she had gone to the Dungeon like the others or what, causing him to mutter to himself.
"Why did everyone suddenly run to the Dungeon all of a sudden?"
Completely unaware that he was the instigator of this matter, and completely unaware of how much pressure and stimulation he had brought to these seniors in the Familia, Leon walked up the tower alone, heading in the direction of his room.
As he walked, Leon suddenly stopped his footsteps.
Because in front of him, at the other end of the corridor, a person was walking toward this side with both hands in his pockets.
That was a werewolf youth with beast ears possessing sharp fur on his head and a gray tail growing behind his waist.
The youth's age was probably a bit older than Raul, but he didn't look much older, at most one or two years. But compared to the plain-looking Raul, this werewolf youth was much more handsome, his physique was very lean and muscular, and his height was well over 180 centimeters. Although his aura was slightly aggressive, it wouldn't give people the feeling of a delinquent thug, but rather like a cool young master.
The opponent's face also had lightning-shaped tattoos, giving him a few more points of fiercer feel out of nowhere. Anyone who saw it would want to temporarily avoid his sharp edge.
The opponent seemed to see Leon as well, his footsteps pausing slightly, and an obvious expression of clicking his tongue surfaced on his face, as if an already bad mood had become even worse. Immediately afterward, he continued to walk toward this side, but his footsteps became much more forceful.
Leon's eyes flickered slightly, but unlike the werewolf youth's obvious demeanor, he faced the opponent with an unchanging expression and took steps again to walk toward him.
In the silent corridor, the two quickly shortened the distance between each other and brushed past each other expressionlessly as if they hadn't seen each other.
Not until they were in a state where their backs were to each other did the werewolf youth take the lead to stop his footsteps, breaking the silence.
"I heard you leveled up to Lv.2?"
This was not a question, but an interrogation.
Although it didn't carry any malice, that unceremonious, rough tone would still make people subconsciously frown.
Leon didn't frown; after all, he was very clear about the werewolf youth's temper.
No, not just him; in the entire Loki Familia and even the entire Orario, there was no one who didn't know this werewolf youth's temper.
Because he was Bete Loga, one of only seven first-class adventurers in the Loki Familia and one of fewer than forty in the entirety of Orario.
His level was Lv.5, his age was twenty-two, and his alias was Vanargand. He was famous for his proud personality, looking down heavily on weak adventurers, speaking venomously, and having a rough attitude—a typical meritocrat who wouldn't show mercy even if the target was a companion of the Familia.
At the same time, he was also the person in the Loki Familia who found Leon most unpleasant to the eye and had the worst relationship with him. From the moment Leon was brought back to the Familia by Ais a year ago, he had been criticizing him. Every time he saw him, he would speak harsh words to him, making Leon not want to see him much, and for this reason, he was even unwilling to go to the cafeteria to dine.
Under the condition where the opponent found him unpleasant to the eye and Leon didn't want to gather close to be scolded, the two consciously avoided each other even within the Familia, resulting in the number of times they met in a year being perhaps fewer than ten.
The opponent was also deliberately ignoring Leon, to the extent that when Leon officially debuted recently, the opponent hadn't appeared much.
But this time, the opponent was obviously unable to ignore Leon anymore.
"Is there a problem?"
Leon didn't turn around, returning such a sentence calmly.
"Quite capable, aren't you? It's different once you level up; your confidence in speaking has become fuller." Bete likewise didn't turn around, continuing to keep both hands in his pockets as he sneered and said, "Leveling up from Lv.1 to Lv.2 in less than a month, you must be very pleased with yourself right now, aren't you?"
"What do you think?" Leon responded with a calm expression. "Do I look like I'm being pleased with myself right now?"
"Could it be you're not?" Bete's speaking tone was rarely devoid of any emotion as he spoke like this. "Breaking the fastest leveling record left by our family's Doll Princess completely clean, as a person who was picked up, wouldn't you feel that this has proved yourself?"
"It's just Lv.2, and that counts as proving myself?" Leon likewise said without any emotion, "To truly prove myself, at the very least wait until Lv.5 or even after Lv.6 before talking about it, right?"
"Ha!" Bete suddenly laughed, as if amused, speaking with a tone full of sarcasm, "You really dare to think!"
"Lv.5? Lv.6?"
"First-class adventurers of whom there are fewer than forty people in the entire city, do you truly think that just because your leveling speed is a bit faster, you'll be able to become one in the future?"
"And with that, you still say you're not pleased with yourself? I see you're incredibly pleased with yourself!"
Although Bete was being sarcastic, he never turned his head back from beginning to end to mock Leon to his face.
"But you're right, only when you're Lv.5 or Lv.6 will you have the qualification to be pleased with yourself," Bete said coldly. "As for now, you're ultimately just a Lv.2. At most, you're just muddling around in the Middle Floors. If this much can make you feel pleased with yourself, then you'd better hurry up and leave this Familia, and go outside to find a random small Familia to stay in."
"You without receiving grace were a nobody, you at Lv.1 were a nobody, and even right now, you are still a nobody."
Leaving behind such words, Bete then left, never looking at Leon even one more time.
Leon listened to the footsteps gradually receding behind his back, and the expression on his face didn't even change a single bit.
Although the opponent's words were very unpleasant to hear, it had to be said that Leon himself held this exact view.Hashira
He always felt that the current him was still very weak and needed to continue to become stronger.
Of course, the ones thinking this way were probably only them.
For others, Leon's achievement was already exceptionally astonishing.
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