This happened not long after Leon leveled up.
By this time, Leon had already spent a few days venturing through the middle floors alongside Line.
It was precisely after these past few days of combat that the small straight sword Leon had persistently been using finally broke.
"Mr. Leon wants to forge a new sword?"
When Leon brought this up to Line, she was somewhat surprised.
"Exactly." Leon nodded, pulling out the ruined small straight sword with a bitter smile. "I can't just rely on magic to defeat monsters forever, can I? My Mind can't sustain a whole day of continuous use either."
Hearing this, Line looked down at the small straight sword in Leon's hand.
The blade was shattered, leaving less than half of it still attached to the hilt. Furthermore, this remaining portion was so heavily chipped and dented that it was probably blunter than a common stone found by the roadside.
Just a moment ago, while Leon was tangling with a Hard Armored on the 13th floor, this small straight sword had merely blocked a single head-on charge from the opponent before cleanly snapping apart.
Consequently, unable to continue fighting under the circumstances, Leon and Line had already departed from the 13th floor.
At present, they were standing amidst the swirling mists of the 12th floor, having just stepped out of the chamber connecting to the 13th floor.
Instead of continuing their ascent, the two of them lingered in the fog, conversing with each other.
"Even though you took this sword in for repairs after every single expedition, Mr. Leon, it's already quite remarkable that it lasted this long while fighting in the middle floors," Line remarked. "I actually thought you would have replaced it much sooner."
After their last conversation, Line assumed that Leon would go out and change his weapon. Who would have thought he would stubbornly hold onto it for a few more days, only giving up now that it was completely shattered today?
"I was thinking of earning a bit more over a few more days so I could replace it with a higher-quality sword all at once."
Leon felt somewhat helpless, which brought a look of understanding to Line's face.
"If that's the case, wouldn't it be easier for you to just purchase a new sword directly from one of those premium weapon shops, Mr. Leon? Why do you want to specifically forge one?" Line asked in confusion. "If you don't have a shop you're familiar with, I can certainly introduce a few to you."
Generally speaking, adventurers only considered specifically commissioning a custom weapon tailored to their needs and requirements once they reached Lv.3 or Lv.4.
This was because, by that stage, mass-produced standard equipment could no longer satisfy their demands.
Take Ais, for example. Her fighting style was actually quite brutal and highly unforgiving to her weapons. As a result, the wear and tear on her equipment after every battle was exceptionally severe, often leading to broken weapons. This incurred massive expenses for repairs or new purchases, which heavily impacted her combat effectiveness.
Therefore, she required a weapon with immense durability capable of withstanding her combat style, even if it meant sacrificing a bit of sharpness.
Thus, she specially commissioned someone to tailor a first-tier armament for her, which was her current beloved blade—the "Desperate Sword."
While its raw power was slightly lower than that of an ordinary first-tier armament, it possessed a special attribute called "Durandal" (Unbreakable) It would never break regardless of how it was used, making it arguably the most suitable and perfect weapon for her requirements.
High-level adventurers typically required specialized items capable of adapting to their specific combat styles and needs like this. The uniform, mass-produced items sold openly over the counters simply could not fulfill their requirements, which was why they needed to specifically commission others to forge them.
But Leon was currently only Lv.2, so there shouldn't be any need for him to forge a custom weapon, right?
When one's level was low, standard mass-produced weapons were generally sufficient. Only when one's level rose and their combat style along with other aspects had matured would it become necessary to forge a dedicated weapon.
Based on this logic, Line voiced her thoughts.
Naturally, Leon was well aware of this point as well.
It was just that—
"Directly purchasing a new weapon is fine, but I want to save a sum of money to see if I can also buy a magic staff."
Leon shrugged, sharing his line of thinking with Line.
Through his hard work over the past month, Leon had managed to accumulate a decent amount of savings.
During his initial period of solo adventuring, Leon had earned a total of three hundred thousand valis. Later on, he teamed up with Line to adventure for half a month. During those two weeks, after deducting personal living expenses and weapon repair fees, Leon was able to save roughly one hundred and fifty thousand valis per day. Over half a month, that amounted to around one million eight hundred thousand valis. Adding the three hundred thousand valis saved previously, the total came to two million one hundred thousand valis.
Then came this past day of venturing into the middle floors after his level up. Aside from earning four hundred thousand valis on the very first day, his money-making efficiency had grown with each passing day, culminating in earning five hundred thousand valis just yesterday. Over these few days, he had pulled in nearly two million valis in total, making the returns undeniably massive.
As a result, Leon had saved up a total of approximately four million valis.
Four million valis—this amount of money could be considered a lot, yet it could also be considered a little.
Saying it was a lot, it was actually only enough to buy a high-quality third-tier armament, or at most a slightly lower-quality second-tier armament, provided it wasn't a heavy weapon that required a large amount of materials like a greatsword, battleaxe, or warhammer.
Saying it was a little, a typical Lv.2 adventurer genuinely might not be able to save up this much money, especially within the span of a single month, making it seem quite incredible.
This money could definitely purchase a weapon that would satisfy Leon at his current stage, but looking at it from another perspective, that was all it could do.
If Leon also wished to buy a magic staff, this amount was absolutely insufficient.
A magic staff equivalent to a third-tier armament would cost several million valis at the very least. If Leon wanted to buy a staff, the remaining funds wouldn't be enough to secure a primary melee weapon.
To acquire both a satisfactory weapon and a magic staff simultaneously, Leon had to find a way to cut costs.
"I don't intend to forge a fully customized weapon; I just want to provide the raw materials myself and find a blacksmith Familia to help me forge a sword," Leon disclosed his plan. "If I provide the raw materials myself, the asking price definitely won't be that high. That way, I might have enough money left over to buy a magic staff."
"So that's how it is." Realization dawned upon Line, and she immediately followed up by asking, "Then what kind of raw materials do you need, Mr. Leon?"
Although their expedition today hadn't lasted the entire day, they had still gathered quite a few drop items.
Drop items such as Al-Miraj horns, Hard Armored claws, and Hellhound fangs were currently resting inside Line's supporter backpack. These could completely be provided as raw materials for forging a weapon.
However, Leon shook his head.
"I want to use drop items from an Infant Dragon to forge the weapon."
Infant Dragons were a rare species of monster that only appeared on the 11th and 12th floors, numbering fewer than five at any given time.
It belonged to the dragon race, which was heralded as the strongest among the various monster categories. Although it lacked wings, its robust body wrapped in hard scales harbored a latent potential that far surpassed any monster on the upper floors. It was both the very first dragon-type monster to appear within the Dungeon and was considered the practical equivalent of a Floor Boss on the upper floors where no "Floor Master" existed, representing a formidable enemy that novice adventurers stood absolutely no chance against.
The so-called Floor Masters were equivalent to the final bosses found at the end of stages in video games. Unlike standard monsters, they were ultra-large-scale beasts that required a significant amount of time to regenerate and only appeared on specific floors.
Generally speaking, novice areas like the upper floors would not give birth to such ultra-large-scale monsters. The earliest Floor Master to appear in the Dungeon was located in the middle floors, specifically at the very end of the cavernous labyrinth on the 17th floor, serving as an exceptionally powerful guardian right before the entrance to the 18th floor.
At present, before the deepest floors that adventurers of the Lower World had managed to reach, people had confirmed the existence of only four Floor Masters in total. They appeared on the 17th, 27th, 37th, and 49th floors respectively.
The gods jokingly referred to them as the Four Heavenly Kings, and it was said that their classifications were two levels higher than the average monsters residing on their respective floors.
For instance, on the 17th floor, most of the roaming monsters were classified around Lv.2, whereas the Floor Master at the end of that floor was classified at Lv.4, and could even reach Lv.5 in terms of its specialized abilities. Ordinary adventurers exploring the 17th floor stood absolutely no chance of defeating it alone, meaning these entities were originally meant to be challenged by large groups of adventurers banding together in cooperation.
The cooperation referred to here did not mean a small three-person party like the adventurers exploring the 13th floor.
If the cooperating adventurers were only Lv.2, they would need to form a large army consisting of at least several dozen individuals to even stand a chance at conquering it. In fact, assembling a massive group of over a hundred people would not be an exaggeration, and they couldn't be a disorganized rabble either; they had to be a highly coordinated team with clear divisions of labor, encompassing vanguards, mid-guards, rear-guard mages, and healers, possessing extremely high proficiency and seamless teamwork.
This was the terrifying nature of a Floor Master. Not only were they ultra-large-scale beasts far surpassing standard large-class monsters, but their capabilities also vastly exceeded their current floors, earning them the title that people uttered with deep reverence—the "Rex."
Among them, the weakest "Rex" appeared on the 17th floor with a classification of Lv.4. Adventurers only needed to consider whether they would encounter it once they reached the middle floors, while novice adventurers wandering the upper floors had no need to worry about such an entity.
Yet, the Infant Dragon that prowled the 11th and 12th floors was dubbed the practical Floor Master of the upper floors, which spoke volumes about how powerful this dragon-type monster truly was.
While the Infant Dragon didn't quite reach the level of a true Rex—which sat two levels above its floor's standard—being a full level higher was more than a safe estimate.
In other words, the capabilities of an Infant Dragon were stronger than the Al-Mirajs, Hard Armored, and Hellhounds found on the 13th floor. Being a dragon種 and a rare monster to boot, the value of its drop items was far superior to Al-Miraj horns, Hard Armored claws, or Hellhound fangs.
This time, Leon had set his sights on the drop items of this dragon-type monster, intending to use the materials obtained from it to forge his weapon.
"Isn't that... a bit too risky?"
Upon learning of Leon's intention, Line began to hesitate.
It wasn't that she doubted Leon's ability to defeat an Infant Dragon. Even without a weapon in hand, relying on his magical firepower which reached the Lv.3 tier, handling a single Infant Dragon wouldn't be difficult for him.
The problem lay in the fact that drop items were not guaranteed to fall from every single monster; monsters that yielded drop items were a minority after all.
Furthermore, Infant Dragons were a rare species. Throughout the entire Dungeon, fewer than five Infant Dragons would exist at any given time. Even if they managed to find all of them and defeat them all, a drop item still might not necessarily appear.
Moreover, simply finding a rare Infant Dragon within the 11th and 12th floors was a feat that wasn't guaranteed to be accomplished.
"Drop items are usually the more developed parts of a monster's body. In other words, the stronger and rarer a monster is, the easier it is for it to leave behind a drop item, since the probability of developed parts appearing on their bodies is relatively higher."
Leon explained this to Line.
"According to existing information, it's basically been confirmed that stronger and rarer monsters have a higher drop rate. Therefore, the chances of obtaining a drop item from an Infant Dragon are actually quite decent."
Since his weapon was already broken and today's regular expedition could no longer proceed normally, it was better to go try their luck.
If it really didn't pan out, Leon wouldn't force it either; at most, he would give up on the magic staff and prioritize purchasing a weapon for close-quarters combat.
His magical firepower already exceeded his current level, making it perfectly adequate even without the enhancement and amplification of a staff.
"If I can get a drop item from an Infant Dragon today, I'll go buy the magic staff and commission a blacksmith to forge a sword for me using the Infant Dragon's drop item as the primary material."
"If I fail to get a drop item from an Infant Dragon today, I'll just find a shop directly and purchase a high-quality weapon."
"Consider it a two-pronged approach; it all depends on whether luck is on my side today."
Hearing Leon put it that way, Line nodded in agreement.
"In that case, let me help you look for the areas where an Infant Dragon is most likely to appear, Mr. Leon."
Line pulled out the upper floor map that she had drawn countless times, carefully cross-referencing the terrain of the 11th and 12th floors to calculate the zones where an Infant Dragon might spawn.
Under Line's guidance, Leon veered away from the primary routes and began wandering through the more secluded areas.
They encountered quite a few monsters along the way, but these upper-floor creatures could no longer pose any threat to Leon, and they were easily dispatched by his magic.
Before long, under Line's lead, Leon got his wish and crossed paths with an Infant Dragon.
"ROOOOOOOOARRRRRRRRRR!!!"
Accompanied by a ferocious roar that erupted through the thick mist, a massive creature emerged from the depths of the grasslands.
It stood over three meters tall with a body length exceeding four meters. Its entire frame was encased in amber scales, a long tail extended from its rear, and its muscles bulged throughout its visibly robust physique. A pair of blood-red eyes rolled continuously within their sockets, locking onto Leon filled with murderous intent following its loud bellow.
"So this is an Infant Dragon?"
Beholding this dragon-type monster that was even larger than large-class Orcs or Silverbacks, Leon showed no fear, only curiosity and a deep desire for the drop items it carried.
"ROOOOOARRRR!"
Sensing the mindset of the adventurer before it, the Infant Dragon let out an enraged roar and charged straight forward.
Leon suddenly smiled. Though both of his hands were completely empty, a magic circle materialized beneath his feet.
Starlight began to shimmer as brilliant meteors started to dance, offering a breathtaking spectacle to this mist-shrouded grassland.
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