At Eina's call, the human girl standing in the corner ran over. "I'm Maris Heikud, Sir Sprout of Justice! Hello!"
The human girl's eyes were fervent and worshipful. Continuously breaking historical level-up records, Roy's fame was in no way inferior to those Level 5 and Level 6 adventurers.
She hadn't expected her advisor to have such connections.
Roy spoke: "Today we'll accompany you to the Dungeon. Hopefully we can teach you something."
Maris nodded heavily.
The group left the Guild Headquarters.
Roy, Daphne, and Cassandra occasionally taught Maris some basic knowledge, walking slowly. In truth, this was deliberately done by Roy.
Roy divided his attention, chatting with the newcomer with a smile on his face, while secretly raising his perception to its maximum, searching for anyone tracking or monitoring him.
With his status, even Level 5 adventurers might not be able to avoid his keen senses.
With the expedition imminent, the Freya Familia was busy as could be. Even if someone was watching him, it wouldn't be a Level 6 executive—purely overkill.
Level 6 monitoring Level 3, word of that would invite ridicule.
Roy led the three girls, wandering through the city, openly purchasing supplies and equipment.
Until noon, after having lunch, they finally arrived at the Babel Plaza at a leisurely pace.
By now, Roy was completely certain no one was tracking him. In Freya's eyes, he had shed suspicion.
They entered the Dungeon.
Because they were bringing a newcomer, their progress wasn't fast—teaching her how to dodge monster attacks, counterattack, and strike at magic stones.
Daphne and Cassandra fully displayed their senior status, carefully instructing the newcomer, gaining satisfaction.
Two hours later, the group rested in a room on the fifth floor. Mainly because Maris's stamina was exhausted. When exploring the Dungeon, unless encountering unexpected circumstances, one must maintain their stamina above sixty percent.
In conversation about ideals and life, Maris said confidently, "I'll definitely become a first-class adventurer and break the Sword Princess's level-up record!"
Roy's level-up record was too extraordinary, considered a unique miracle. In thousands of years, there was only this one case. Basically no one would take him as their target.
Hearing this, Daphne and Cassandra exchanged glances. The arrogance of new adventurers wasn't something they couldn't understand, but the reality was—the gap between people was sometimes greater than the gap between people and dogs.
If Roy hadn't carried them through dungeons, the two would have needed at least another two or three years to level up.
Especially Cassandra the healer, who normally could only scrape together leftover experience.
They didn't know how to advise Maris either. No matter what was done in this situation, it would be awkward.
Indulging her would only make her die faster!
Dissuading her, but those self-important newcomers would often think others were jealous of them.
Daphne and Cassandra looked at Roy. This was the first time they encountered this situation, and they were out of options.
Roy gave the two a reassuring look. Eina had placed this newcomer in his hands. Not letting her learn something would be unacceptable.
Roy asked, "Maris, are you interested in going to the Middle Floors?"
"The Middle Floors—"
Maris's eyes widened. For a new adventurer's first Dungeon entry, the fifth floor was the limit.
Roy said, "Growth requires adventure. You should know that leveling up requires great deeds."
Maris's spirit stirred. Advisor Eina was very conservative, telling her to enter at most the second floor. But she had always felt the other was looking down on her.
Provoked by Roy, the newcomer girl developed strong rebellious psychology. Moreover, under Roy and the others' guidance, she could already kill fifth floor monsters. Surely the Middle Floors wouldn't be anything special.
"Sure!" Maris agreed.
Daphne and Cassandra were speechless. She dared agree to this—truly the newborn calf fears not the tiger.
But with their strength, protecting a newcomer in the Middle Floors was still simple enough.
The group continued toward the lower floor passages.
From entering the Middle Floors (twelfth floor) onward, Maris discovered that the seniors who had been chatting easily with her upstairs—Daphne and Cassandra—had tense expressions and hadn't said another word since.
Cassandra, whose temperament tended toward gloominess and frailty, also displayed the professional qualities of a high-level adventurer.
Even without verbal communication, Roy, Daphne, and Cassandra coordinated excellently, knowing where they should stand and what they should do.
Roy served as vanguard, handling the area with the most monsters. Daphne prevented rear monster ambushes. Cassandra positioned in the middle, ready to cast healing magic at any moment, with a dagger strapped to her thigh and a satchel at her lower back containing emergency antidotes and bandages.
Passing through the twelfth to seventeenth floors, Middle Floor monsters—Hellhounds, Minotaurs, Needle Rabbits—came wave after wave, as if without end.
Maris had completely no chance to attack. A two-meter-tall Minotaur roared at her, frightening the poor girl into sitting paralyzed on the ground.
Boom!
Roy's longsword pierced through the Minotaur's chest. The monster's body turned to dust. Then Roy turned back to continue killing monsters.
Maris watched in disbelief at the coordination of Roy's trio—clean, decisive movements without any hesitation or messiness, as if existences from another dimension.
These were high-level adventurers!
Thinking back on her previous declaration, how laughable it was. Forget Roy—even Daphne and Cassandra made her feel hopelessly outclassed.
Traditional healers didn't need to personally fight and would be fully protected by teammates.
But in Roy and Miss Ryuu's concept, the best healer was one who helped teammates kill all the monsters, so there would be no need for healing.
Cassandra, trained under Ryuu's tempering, had mastered certain close combat capabilities. While healing, she would also use her dagger to help Daphne deal with monsters behind them.
The Dungeon actually bullied the weak and feared the strong. After Roy's trio displayed strength sufficient to crush that floor's monsters, the monster appearance frequency began to drop.
So when people sometimes felt the Dungeon possessed intelligence, it wasn't an illusion.
The group smoothly entered the eighteenth floor.
Even that floor's beautiful scenery couldn't attract the newcomer girl's attention. Her face was pale with fright the entire way, finally understanding Eina's words.
Underestimating the Dungeon meant death!
Roy looked at Maris's trembling body, not feeling he had gone too far. Being an adventurer was a life-risking profession. Without this awareness, better quit quickly—otherwise, sooner or later, one would die in the Dungeon.
"We'll rest on the eighteenth floor today. I'll go get the tent," Roy said.
The three girls had no objections, especially Maris, whose legs had gone soft and who didn't want to move another step.
Roy pretended to retrieve hidden supplies from the forest. In truth, various supplies were stored in his ring, but he couldn't expose this to an outsider.
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