The Dungeon, the 15th floor.
Dim, cave-like passages branched out in every direction, allowing the damp air, laden with the scent of stone, to drift through this grey cavern.
A scattering of light sources near the ceiling flickered like bonfires, cutting parts of the dim scenery into irregular shapes, resembling an eternal night.
Right here in this murky underground labyrinth, along a corner of the cavern passage, a fierce slaughter was underway.
Swish!
A silver light flashed like an afterimage, slicing through the air and cutting through the wind. With unparalleled sharpness, it slashed toward a Hellhound.
Spurt!
Blood splattered instantly. The Hellhound, which had been compressing flames in its maw, had its flesh sliced open and its nerves severed by this godspeed slash. Even though its body was packed with solid muscle and its fur was incredibly tough, this single strike still effortlessly cleaved the Hellhound completely in two, splitting it down the middle, rendering it as dead as could be.
"Garrr-roooooh...!"
Witnessing the wretched demise of their companion, the remaining Hellhounds let out furious roars one after another.
However, before the flames swirling in their mouths could be unleashed, the adventurer who had so easily slaughtered their companion surged forward at an astonishing speed. With a raise of his hand, the silver light flashed once more, slashing toward them.
Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!
The sounds of flesh being sliced by a sharp weapon rang out continuously, and the Hellhounds' furious howling turned into agonizing wails before death. Blood constantly sprayed into the air, intertwining with the silver light that had turned into afterimages to weave a hellish tapestry of slaughter. At a glance, it actually possessed a bizarre touch of aesthetic beauty.
Before long, this pack of Hellhounds was entirely wiped out by the adventurer who had broken into their territory, returning everything in the cavern passage to silence.
Only then did the adventurer holding the silver sword halt his ghost-like footsteps and emerge from the gloom.
It was none other than Leon.
"So... so amazing! Mr. Leon!"
Line, who had been watching the battle from the rear and preparing to support Leon at any moment, stared with her mouth wide open in a perfect circle, before immediately growing ecstatic.
It couldn't be helped; the strength Leon had just displayed had completely dropped her jaw.
That level of power was clearly a notch above what he had shown the day before yesterday—in fact, it could be described as significantly stronger.
No wonder... No wonder after entering the Dungeon today and reaching the 13th floor, Mr. Leon had suddenly suggested deepening their exploration. He had even led her to jump straight down from the vertical hole on the 13th floor, skipping the 14th floor entirely, crossing floors to arrive here on the 15th floor.
Line had initially worried that Leon wouldn't be able to handle it, but who could have guessed that after arriving on the 15th floor, Leon would display strength far greater than before, adopting a posture of sheer dominance.
"Did you update your status?" Line ran up, asking with a face full of anticipation.
"Yes." Leon was still savoring the sensation from the battle just now, replying with a smile, "After returning home the day before yesterday, I had Loki update my status. My strength grew a little bit."
Line really wanted to say that this was hardly just a little bit of growth.
Given the strength Leon had just displayed, he was already no different from a veteran among Lv.2s.
Whether it was destructive power or speed, it was on an entirely different level compared to the day before yesterday.
"With the strength you just showed, Mr. Leon, let alone the 15th floor, you could probably adapt even to the floors beyond the 18th floor, right?" Line remarked in sheer wonder.
And that was indeed the truth.
With this status update, the total proficiency of all Leon's abilities had increased by around 2700 points. Among them, Strength and Endurance had reached E, while Dexterity and Agility had reached D, which was enough to satisfy the basic requirements for a level-up. As for Magic, it had even reached C. This set of ability parameters could satisfy the standards provided by the Guild not just on the 15th floor, but even on the floors beyond the 20th, all the way to the 24th floor, which was the deepest part of the Middle Floors.
According to the exploration standards provided by the Guild, the lowest level of the Middle Floors domain—spanning floors 13 to 24—specifically the 24th floor, had an exploration standard of Lv.2, with required ability parameters ranging from C to S.
By this standard, Leon already had one parameter, Magic, that met the requirement.
If he were paired with two teammates who also met the exploration standards, he could venture out to explore the 24th floor right now.
Under such circumstances, Leon adventuring on merely the 15th floor wouldn't cause him too much pressure, even though he was alone without any teammates fighting alongside him.
Of course...
"Being able to fight so cleanly and decisively is also thanks to having a suitable weapon in hand." Leon raised the silver sword in his hand, looking perfectly satisfied to see that the sharp edge still flashed with a cold gleam, completely devoid of any wear and tear.
This third-tier weapon—crafted with a drake's fang as the primary material and infused with a small amount of adamantite, originally priced at 4.5 million valis but haggled down to 1.8 million valis by Loki—truly possessed a might worthy of its impressive price tag.
During his previous battles against Hellhounds, even if Leon could strike the opponent at extreme speed, the small straight sword in his hand would suffer significant resistance from their hide, which was tougher than cowhide—not to mention the robust muscles beneath that layer of hide.
It could be said that in order to hack a Hellhound to death previously, Leon had to exert every ounce of his strength with each attack. Without going all out, he simply couldn't cut through the opponent's flesh, and even if he did, it would most likely just leave a wound. Unless he hit a vital spot, a single-strike kill was entirely impossible.
But things were different now.
Just now, Leon had fundamentally used very little strength to successfully breach the Hellhound's hide, slice through its muscles, and cleave it straight in two with a single sword stroke, leaving it thoroughly dead.
This was more than enough to prove the sheer sharpness of this new weapon.
Its might was already extremely close to a second-tier weapon, making it more than enough to handle monsters of the Middle Floors with great ease.
"With this, I probably won't need to consider changing weapons before reaching Lv.5." Leon turned the silver blade in his hand, growing fonder of it the more he examined it.
Generally speaking, even among first-class adventurers, not everyone could utilize first-tier weapons.
Take Bete, for instance; the main weapon he currently used was still a second-tier weapon, though the gear he utilized was highly specialized, with a value not inferior to a first-tier weapon at all.
Equipment, bar any exceptions, usually matched an adventurer's level. For example, a first-class adventurer was best off using a first-tier weapon, and a second-class adventurer was best off using a second-tier weapon, so that they wouldn't be held back by their gear.
An Lv.2 like Leon, which meant a third-class adventurer, usually used third-tier weapons. However, the sword in Leon's hand already approached the might of a second-tier weapon, and its durability and hardness could fully rival a second-tier weapon. That being the case, even if he leveled up to Lv.3 or even Lv.4 later on, he could still manage to keep using this sword.
"It's decided, I'll call you the Dragon Fang Sword." Leon gave the sword in his hand a name.
Because it was custom-made by someone else and the timeline had been very tight, this sword hadn't had time to receive a name since it was forged.
Since the primary material used to forge this sword was a drake's fang, calling it the "Dragon Fang Sword" was quite fitting.
"Mr. Leon!" Seeing Leon playing with his newly acquired weapon as if he couldn't bear to put it down, Line was just about to say something with a smile when the corner of her eye caught sight of something extraordinary, causing her face to change drastically as she cried out in alarm.
Leon heard it too. From the passage behind them, a burst of heavy footsteps and ragged breathing suddenly echoed.
Those were footsteps and breathing that only a massive, fierce beast could possess.
Amidst the commotion that caused even the ground to vibrate slightly, Leon slowly turned around.
And then, he saw it.
Out of the darkness, a massive frame slowly stepped forward, exuding a terrifying presence that would scare even upper-class adventurers, making them want to flee for their lives.
The massive frame was copper-red all over, its body bulging with immense muscles. Its knotted shoulders and arms, which bulged like thick ropes, brought a powerful sense of oppression. Its rock-hard hooves landed on the ground, causing the floor to sink with every step, leaving hoof-shaped imprints.
Heavy breaths kept snorting out.
A pair of grand, majestic bull horns curved outward.
The creature stood well over two meters tall, with the head of a bull, the body of a man, blood-red eyes, and a massive natural weapon resembling a giant battleaxe gripped in its hands.
"Buu-woooooh—!"
The terrifying, bullish monster emerging from the darkness unleashed a roar that shook the cavern.
That was a roar capable of evoking the most primal fear in the heart of any living being.
That was a horrific intimidation capable of binding a creature's body and mind, rendering it unable to move.
The intense roar could shake an adventurer's fighting spirit and break their resolve, causing anyone facing it directly to immediately harbor a single thought in their mind—"unwinnable."
Whether it was the strength to stand up and fight or the courage to engage in frontal combat, all of it would vanish into thin air in an instant under that roar, leaving one's mind blank and body stiff, ultimately losing all capacity to resist and allowing itself to be slaughtered.
"A Minotaur!" Line's voice distorted, carrying a subconscious dread that she herself didn't even notice.
The Minotaur was the most representative monster within the cavern labyrinths of the Middle Floors.
It was a fierce beast categorized as Lv.2 even when encountered entirely on its own. Within the entire Middle Floors domain up to the safe floor of the 18th floor, it was indisputably the strongest monster, excluding the Floor Boss located at the end of the 17th floor.
This kind of monster usually only appeared on floors below the 15th floor, serving as the absolute worst nightmare that could not be ignored by any adventurers exploring the Middle Floors.
Even Hellhounds with their magical flame attacks were far less terrifying in the minds of adventurers than a single Minotaur, even if the Hellhounds moved in packs.
"Buu-woooooh—!"
The bullish monster unleashed another roar that shook the air and kicked up countless clouds of dust. It then stomped the ground apart, charging madly toward Leon.
"Be careful, Mr. Leon!" Line's face turned white instantly, her voice becoming frantic with panic.
She was only an Lv.2 herself, and a non-combatant at that. Even though she had followed the elites of the Familia to the ultra-deep domains below the 50th floor, facing this terrifying monster capable of freezing an upper-class adventurer's body still made her instinctively feel weak-willed.
Let alone Line, even Leon, who had already grown accustomed to the Dungeon and would no longer feel as tense as he did during his first encounter with a monster, felt his entire body tighten when facing this bull-headed, human-bodied monster, and his gaze changed sharply.
Seeing the bullish monster charging forward with heavy, earth-shaking steps as if to shatter the entire cavern passage, high-raising the massive stone axe in its hands, Leon pulled out an emerald-colored wand hanging at his waist almost as a reflex.
"Light of the Heavens, Sword of the Stars."
The crystal-like gemstone flashed with a brilliant light, aiming directly at the roaring, charging bullish monster.
"Meteor Dance!"
As the short incantation fell, a magic circle shining with gorgeous starlight expanded with a spin at the tip of the emerald wand.
Boom!
A meteor swept out from the magic circle, carrying a terrifying momentum as it blasted violently toward the attacking Minotaur.
The scale of this meteor was nearly twice as large as the thick, pillar-like specification Leon had generated when unleashing his magic previously.
Therefore, the moment it appeared, the darkness in the entire cavern passage was driven away. The shining starlight directly illuminated the whole passage, turning the originally gloomy, eternal-night-like cavern as bright as daytime, exceptionally piercing to the eyes.
The aggressively charging Minotaur, facing this thick meteor that was practically equal in size to its massive frame, didn't even manage to form a reaction before it was struck dead-on.
Rumble!
A deafening explosion erupted, and the bullish monster was blasted flying directly by the incredibly thick meteor. Its entire massive frame was pinned at the absolute front by the meteor, pushed along the path before slamming heavily into the wall, exploding along with countless shattered rocks.
Instantly, debris filled the air and dust billowed everywhere. The entire cavern passage vibrated amidst the rumbling explosion, causing countless specks of dust to shower down from the ceiling.
"This... This..." Line was already staring open-mouthed.
Let alone Line, even Leon, who had snapped out of it, was somewhat shocked.
"The might of the magic... actually increased by this much?"
This level of firepower, even if it hadn't reached the standard of Lv.4, probably wasn't far off, right?
"Is the effect of this wand really that powerful?"
The look in Leon's eyes as he gazed at the emerald wand in his hand completely transformed.
Unleashing magic with this wand just now had been unimaginably smooth, and he could clearly feel a surge of power flowing from the shaft that amplified his magic, increasing its might while reducing his mental fatigue.
"So this is the difference between having a wand in hand and being empty-handed."
Just like an adventurer, having a weapon in hand and being empty-handed was bound to be different.
Thinking this way, Leon had forgotten that compared to before, his Magic parameter had risen by a full six ranks, jumping straight from the lowest I to C.
Coupled with the wand's elevation of his Magic parameter and its amplification of magical might, his firepower had been drastically elevated, granting him a destructive capacity that almost reached Lv.4.
Utilizing this kind of firepower to deal with a single Minotaur, whose classification rank was merely Lv.2, was already a bit excessive.
Therefore, when the dust settled and the debris finally hit the floor, both Leon and Line saw the bullish monster—battered, tattered, bloodied all over, and missing nearly half its torso—lying motionless in the crater blasted out of the wall.
Its life or death was entirely unknown.
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