Noah was bathed in blood, wielding the sword light representing death, keeping pace with its deadly dance. Under such a full-strength assault, Noah gradually felt his body grow hot, his mind becoming clearer.
Forget the past, forget the present, forget everything. Listen to the will of the body itself.
Astonishing heat surged from his body, seeping through his skin, tempering Noah's body.
After the last monster fell with a ground shaking thud, Noah swung his sword clean and looked around, but could no longer see any monsters. In the range of vision cleared by the sword energy, the grass and trees were silent.
The surroundings seemed quiet.
After taking a deep breath, Noah looked at the cliff in the distance, sheathed his sword, and walked towards the two approaching figures. Although Ais was the supporter, Riveria also carried a huge backpack. Despite being a mage, her strength, comparable to other Level 5 melee adventurers, allowed her to carry the main load. Ais, carrying a slightly smaller backpack, took on the task of picking up magic stones and drop items. At this moment, she was running around like a little golden mouse. When she placed a Wyvern scale, bigger than herself, on her head, the blonde girl looked as lovely as a little elf resting under a lotus leaf after the rain.
"How is it?"
Noah took the water bottle handed to him by Riveria, took a long sip, and then carefully assessed his physical condition. "Well, frankly, there's no pressure."
Even though his body still had hidden injuries and his strength and endurance were weaknesses, the monsters on the 12th floor posed no challenge for Noah. In the past three hours, despite fighting nonstop and almost completely clearing the floors from 1st to 12th, he still felt endless strength. Although his body and mind had basically adjusted, he still felt unsatisfied.
"Still not enough?" Although mentally prepared, after witnessing Noah's battle from the 1st to the 12th floor, Riveria was shocked numb. What shocked her wasn't that the monsters on the upper floors couldn't pressure Noah; that was expected. What amazed Riveria was Noah's growth rate.
Riveria had also felt the discomfort of a sudden increase in strength and needed time to hone her skills. But as far as she knew, no one could adapt faster than Noah. Whether it was his control of strength or the agility of his movements, Noah became more skillful and precise every second, eventually wasting almost no energy.
Combat is never simply a test of strength, speed, or magic, because an attack that doesn't hit is meaningless. Compared to adventurers of the same level, monsters often have several times the strength advantage, and a single hit can be decisive. But monsters, despite their strength, often couldn't hit adventurers. Adventurers, although needing to dodge, could often succeed with one strike. This is technique, the secret of how mortals defeat the strong with the weak, defeat monsters.
As for Noah's fighting skills, Riveria felt there was nothing more to teach him. No, he had far surpassed her. After fighting for so long, there wasn't even a drop of blood on him, which explained everything.
"Although, in my opinion, it would be more appropriate to stop here today..." Looking at Noah, whose eyes were still shining with eagerness, Riveria sighed and took some of the weight from Ais who was walking over. "...But judging from your expression, you definitely don't want to leave like this, right?"
"Of course. After all, I haven't used magic yet for training..." As he spoke, Noah blinked, slowly lowered his head, and looked at Ais who was leaning towards him, her pale nose twitching slightly. "Ais, what are you doing?" No matter how Noah looked at it, Ais's action just now was like she was smelling him. If their positions were reversed, Noah believed he would be punished by Riveria the next second.
"...Noah smells so good..." Coming to her senses, Ais's cheeks turned pink, and she lowered her head like a child caught doing something wrong. Although still young, she already knew what was appropriate. The girl was aware her behavior was improper. But it smelled really good. The faint fragrance brought back memories of a green field with white flowers swaying in the wind...
Feeling guilty, Ais subconsciously glanced at Riveria but was surprised to find she wasn't being scolded. Instead, there was a hint of complexity on Riveria's face.
Riveria had actually noticed the strange fragrance on Noah's body long ago. Before entering the Dungeon, she had to get very close to smell it. But as Noah continued to fight, not only did the expected smell of sweat not appear, but the fragrance became even more distinct. This proved the fragrance wasn't perfume but emanated from him. What was even stranger was that its concentration didn't change with distance; it was always light, almost imperceptible, yet impossible to ignore.
Even the knowledgeable Riveria was confused. She had heard of some potions and special races that could daze people with just their scent, but she felt very awake. Rather, it feels comfortable and peaceful? Especially in this bloody environment, smelling the faint fragrance from Noah, Riveria didn't feel the slight discomfort she usually did. Instead, she felt as if she were in a quiet forest on a midsummer night, extremely comfortable, her mood peaceful.
What is going on? A charm? I've really broadened my horizons.
..
"Smell?" Hesitantly, Noah sniffed his arm but didn't smell anything strange. There was no smell of sweat, but Noah had always been like this. Even when sweating profusely, the scent was very light. However, he still couldn't smell the thing Ais mentioned. Confused, Noah looked at Riveria.
As soon as his eyes swept over, Riveria knew what he wanted to ask. But recalling her previous actions, she felt a strong sense of shame and, more importantly, feared Ais would remember what happened that morning. Once involved, she'd have to transform from an elegant elf into a rude elf and dig a hole to crawl into.
So she tossed him a recovery potion, didn't give Noah a chance to speak, grabbed Ais, and turned away. "Well, you want to keep moving forward, don't you? Let's speed up."
Noah subconsciously caught the potion and looked at the crystal blue liquid rippling inside. His mind immediately filled with the bitter taste. What he originally wanted to ask was suddenly forgotten. After some hesitation, Noah quietly put the potion into the bag around his waist.
When it comes to training, of course, you have to pursue your limits.
While strolling on the 12th floor, other adventurers finally appeared beside Noah's rushing group.
"...This is really weird. Why are there so few monsters today?"
"I promised Miss Syr that I would bring her a drop item!"
"Isn't the Dungeon acting strange? Why don't we just go back?"
After passing through the floors, Noah and his companions went through a long slope and finally arrived at the middle floors. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all gray rock, and the air was filled with damp vapor. Although the path didn't bend, the long passage stretched out of sight, with vertical caves and shafts appearing frequently. Adventurers often got delayed here, separated, and surrounded by monsters, resulting in casualties.
This was the 13th floor.
The biggest difference between middle floor monsters and upper floor monsters, besides strength, size, number, and respawn rate, is that they possess long range attacks. For adventurers not yet accustomed to the middle floors, whether it's a Hellhound spitting fire or an Almiraj throwing stone axes, they are powerful enemies.
Even Ais had never been here before, so she couldn't help but look around wide eyed. Under the faint light, Noah and his two companions accelerated forward. The Almiraj that appeared were all dealt with by Noah with one sword stroke.
Finally, the three arrived at a huge cavern. The tall ceiling supported by stone pillars was covered with strange rock formations. Although fighting in a spacious cavern meant potentially facing many monsters at once, it also provided more room to maneuver and cooperate.
Before Noah had time to observe, many ominous red lights appeared in the darkness. Uneven, pitch-black skin made them look like they had walked out of purgatory. They were as big as calves, their eyes a chaotic, ferocious scarlet: Hellhounds. There were about twenty of them, accompanied by several times more Almiraj. Even though the rabbits looked cute, seeing more than sixty of them staring with sharp stone axes was chilling.
"Hmm, is this a friendly greeting from the Dungeon?" After seeing Riveria protecting Ais, Noah drew his sword and rushed out cautiously.
At a distance of several dozen meters, which would be safe on the upper floors, the Hellhounds raised their heads and sprayed large fireballs. As powerful monsters potentially rated Level 2, their flames could easily melt ordinary armor. Most adventurers purchase Salamander Wool with high fire resistance before proceeding to the middle floors. However, the 40 million Valis armor on Noah wasn't wasted; fire resistance was standard.
Of course, Noah didn't need to tank a mere Hellhound's breath. He swung his sword, creating a wave of air. The wind pressure pushed the flames back, turning them into an even more violent firestorm. The Hellhounds, unprepared for their own attack, immediately scattered, howling.
The Almiraj fared even worse. Their combat ability was similar to ordinary upper floor monsters; their potential Level 2 rating came from agility and group tactics. Covered by flames, the rabbits didn't even have time to throw their axes before being burned to ashes while screaming.
Taking advantage of the broken formation, Noah rushed in and began his deadly sword dance. Although middle floor monsters were much tougher, they were still cut apart like butter under Noah's blade, blood splattering everywhere. Sometimes, a Hard Armored would curl up, rolling like a cannonball, but even the strongest defense among the upper and middle floors couldn't stop death's arrival.
After a fierce fight, feeling he had gradually adapted to the strength of the middle floor monsters, Noah stopped. He turned his head to meet Riveria's gaze, gripped the hilt of his sword, took a deep breath, and uttered the chant.