When he had just become a rookie adventurer.
Including up to now—Takemikazuchi, the God of War, had provided a great deal of help. After learning that Bell Cranel had become his member and had encountered danger in the Dungeon, Ron could not possibly stand by and do nothing.
However, when Bell asked why he had grown to his current level in such a short time, that was a question he really didn't know how to answer.
He couldn't exactly say it outright.
Because he was cheating, and hated by the Dungeon, so every day was hell difficulty?
But thinking of how, in the original storyline, the white-haired boy before him had also been an unprecedentedly overpowered existence, it seemed he didn't need much special guidance from him.
After thinking for a moment, Ron decided to respond in the simplest and most unadorned way: "Put in the effort, and rely on having just a tiny bit of talent yourself."
"..."
Was the answer really that simple?
Realizing his question had been somewhat presumptuous, Bell nodded heavily. He didn't forget to explain: "I heard a lot from Lord Takemikazuchi…"
"About Senior Ron."
"My name is Bell Cranel. Thank you very much for your help, Senior Ron."
"It was nothing."
He was already calling him "senior," so what more was there to say?
To be honest, Takemikazuchi really was the most righteous god Ron had ever seen. As for the Dungeon's abnormal changes and Bell encountering a Minotaur in the upper Floors, this also counted as giving Bell some simple psychological reassurance.
Ron nodded lightly: "The monster you encountered should be a Minotaur from the middle Floors. For some reason, it suddenly appeared in the upper Floors."
"It's an isolated incident."
"When you explore the Dungeon in the future, just be a bit more careful. Don't give up on the path you've chosen just because of the setback you've encountered now."
After receiving a concrete explanation of the incident, the gloom pressing on the white-haired boy's heart gradually dissipated. And upon hearing encouragement from the person he admired and pursued, Bell's eyes were filled with surprise.
He hadn't expected that his senior would be so easy to get along with?!
"Thank you, Senior Ron."
"Becoming an adventurer—that's the goal I came to Orario for. I won't give up easily. I just hope… that in the future, I can catch up to your footsteps, Senior."
Facing Ron's encouraging gaze,
the boy only felt boundless motivation. Even if that figure ahead was extremely distant, just as his senior had said, as long as one was willing to put in the effort, it was absolutely achievable.
Thinking of this, "Future."
Bell nodded heavily, his eyes filled with longing: "Even if it's difficult, I will become an adventurer as strong as you, Senior Ron!"
"..."
Quite ambitious.
He was gradually overlapping with that unyielding white-haired boy from the original story. Even Ron hadn't expected that the disrupted storyline would return to its proper track at this moment.
Before leaving, from the corner of his eye, he glanced at Bell, who remained in place watching him off. It also counted as providing Takemikazuchi with some of the few bits of encouragement and support he could offer at this stage.
After all, in a Soulslike Dungeon, for a rookie adventurer like that "rabbit," rashly following a party into the middle Floors and facing those troublesome monsters would be no different from courting death.
After weighing it for a moment, Ron smiled brightly: "Bell Cranel."
"Since the future is yours, then… prove it to me!"
...
The battle with the dark-skinned Minotaur ended quickly.
As for the brief exchange between Ron and Bell Cranel, Daphne hadn't paid attention. Her mind was overloaded, processing what had just happened.
'So this is what future exploration will be like.'
It could be said that the captain had indirectly admitted that the recent abnormal changes in the Dungeon originated from him!
And, the fact that his strength had grown to its current level in such a short time was entirely traceable. Daphne found it hard to imagine just how harsh Ron's previous exploration routine had been…
'How severe must the difficulty have been?!'
'Looking at it this way…'
'It seems that only reaching Lv3 to barely explore the middle Floors is actually very reasonable. But why would that trigger changes in the Dungeon?'
The girl couldn't help muttering to herself.
And in her understanding, only gods could trigger changes in the Dungeon. But how could a god possibly become an adventurer of the Hestia Familia?
In the final analysis, it was very likely that Captain Ron possessed an extremely outrageous skill!
After becoming a member of the Hestia Familia, what awaited her would also be this level of difficulty. Yet Daphne did not feel any hesitation at all.
A Dungeon of extremely high difficulty—the final rewards it brought would only far exceed her imagination!
Looking at the tall, upright figure of the boy walking ahead, whose emotions showed no fluctuation, she couldn't suppress her curiosity: "Will it always be this difficult in the future?"
"More or less."
The Dungeon has consciousness.
Ron had already deeply experienced this when encountering the Mimic War Shadow. It could even spawn monsters in a second playthrough, retaining memories from a previous life.
As they advanced deeper, even though he had not yet explored that region, he could already imagine the difficulty: "More precisely—as we go deeper, the Dungeon's difficulty will only gradually increase. But as long as you can adapt, the rewards will definitely outweigh the risks."
"Regretting it?"
"Don't call it regret. To be precise, it's anticipation."
In fact, it was more of a sense of fortune. If what Ron said was true, then joining the Hestia Familia would absolutely be the most correct decision she had ever made in her life.
Daphne shook her head lightly.
Her eyes were filled with emotion: "If the adventurers in Orario who want to grow knew about this, at least in terms of Familia scale, I can't imagine how far it would develop."
"In less than half a year…"
"It might become one of the top Familias in Orario!"
"Who knows?"
Through the Minotaur, briefly informing Daphne and Cassandra about the Soulslike Dungeon had not affected the team's overall morale.
Instead, it made the atmosphere even more heated.
After quickly dealing with the ordinary monsters encountered along the way, Ron led the team to the 12th Floor—the endpoint of the upper Floors.
Beyond that lay the Floor known as the "First Death Line."
Before he could even pass through the current Floor, that ever-present sensation of being watched by the Dungeon reached its peak upon arriving here.
And, that intense sense of crisis that even Ron could not ignore surged like a tidal wave, swallowing him like a small boat drifting in the vast ocean.
Some time ago, when he encountered the Floor Boss—the Grafted Scion—even that Boss had not brought him such overwhelming pressure. Although he had prepared himself mentally, he still couldn't help but frown.
Just as he was about to remind Mikoto and Daphne to stay alert, a familiar tremor continuously spread from the ground. Even the rock walls of the cave were reshaped under the Dungeon's control.
The passage behind them was sealed off by abruptly rising rock, preventing any possibility of escape. The originally narrow cave gradually opened up into a vast space.
A room belonging exclusively to a Floor Boss appeared before Ron and the others. The faint glow of the bioluminescent growths could no longer illuminate the enormous arena.
Even so, within the ink-like deep darkness ahead, the massive body of a dragon was still clearly visible!
'A dragon…'
'Damn it, you're making me slay a dragon this soon?!'
...
Meanwhile, fully clearing out the fleeing Minotaurs had significantly slowed the Loki Familia's return to Orario. However, as the team continued advancing, soon, they would reach the 12th Floor.
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