The Fiftieth Floor of the Dungeon.
Like the Eighteenth Floor, the Fiftieth Floor was a safe floor that appeared every dozen or so floors where no Monsters would be born.
But today, the silence that had long shrouded the Fiftieth Floor was broken.
Continuous explosions rang out as hundreds and thousands of Worm-type monsters surged like a tide, wave after wave, besieging the loki familia camp.
"Fire arrows! Don't let them get near the camp!"
At the very front of the camp, Riveria directed the members of the Loki Familia to repel the Monsters while chanting incantations to release magic.
Vast magic power surged as a cold current swept across the battlefield, constantly obstructing the Worm-type monsters.
However, under the relentless charge of the worms, the Loki Familia's battle line was being pushed back further and further.
"Shield guards, go to the front and hold them off! Be careful not to get hit by the Worm-type monsters' corrosive liquid!"
Riveria's expression grew increasingly serious.
The strength of the Worm-type monsters wasn't particularly high, the most troublesome part was the corrosive liquid they sprayed upon death.
Once touched by that corrosive liquid, even the sturdiest equipment would quickly melt away.
With the suddenness of the attack, the tricky trait of ignoring front-line defense, and the fact that Ais and the others had gone to the 51st Floor to collect materials, it was difficult for the current Loki Familia to hold back these Monsters.
Should they abandon the camp and retreat for now?
Or should she find a way for the front line to buy time while she charged up an ultra-long chant magic?
Various thoughts flashed through her mind, but just as Riveria was hesitating, a loud boom echoed from behind the Worm-type monsters.
"Riveria-sama! Ais and the others are back!"
"I see them."
Riveria looked toward the rear of the battlefield at the figure weaving through the worm army.
Unlike ordinary weapons, the sword Desperate, which possessed the indestructible attribute, ignored the corrosion and rapidly annihilated the Worm-type monsters, tearing an opening in the blink of an eye.
However...
Why was Ais alone?
Looking at the Blonde Girl who was rapidly clearing out the Monsters, a look of confusion appeared on Riveria's face.
The team that went to the 51st Floor to collect materials consisted of eight people, even if they split up, they would be in groups of four.
But now that Ais had returned, where were the remaining seven, including Finn?
Deep confusion arose in her mind, and in the next second, Tiona's figure appeared in her line of sight.
"Riveria! Get everyone out of here, fast!"
Tiona cupped her hands and shouted a retreat warning at the top of her lungs.
Behind her, First Class Adventurers like Finn, Bete, and Tione appeared one after another.
Carrying the injured Raul and Lefiya, who wasn't fast enough to escape, the group followed behind Ais, rushing toward the camp along the path she had carved out.
At the same time, the ground began to shake continuously, and a huge Monster appeared on the battlefield following Finn and the others.
The Monster had a yellow-green body and flat arms; its lower body was very similar to the Worm-type monsters, but its upper body rose high like a female form with smooth curves.
Upon arriving near the camp, the Female-bodied Monster's four flat arms slowly opened, releasing colorful glowing spots like falling pollen, beautiful and dreamlike.
But upon seeing these spots of light, Finn and the others who were being chased broke into a cold sweat, and their speed suddenly increased.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions echoed across the plains, as if a long-chant magic had struck, the earth shook violently, and towering flames swept up, devouring the Worm-type monsters.
"Eh? For real?!"
"Are you kidding me! This firepower is way too exaggerated!"
"It's completely at the level of a Floor Boss!"
The Loki Familia members who were originally attacking the worms were startled and let out a string of exclamations.
"Don't get distracted! Ranged group, continue to suppress the worm army and assist Ais in opening the path back!"
"Front-line shield guards, retreat! Take the portable supplies and pull back!"
Riveria issued commands to everyone, finally understanding why Finn and the others were running.
If this Female-bodied Monster belonged to the same species as the Worm-type monsters, it would also release corrosive liquid when injured.
In a situation where they might lose their weapons, even First Class Adventurers couldn't deal with such a Monster.
But simply running wouldn't create enough distance.
While having the Loki Familia members retreat, someone also had to be sent to annihilate the Female-bodied Monster to keep losses to a minimum.
"Ais! Leave the job of opening the path to me!"
As if knowing Riveria's thoughts, Finn suddenly accelerated past Ais to the front.
"You go pull that Monster away and deal with it!"
"Yes!"
As the only person on the scene holding an indestructible weapon, Ais had long been mentally prepared.
Without any hesitation, she decisively swapped positions with Finn and charged toward the Female-bodied Monster in the rear.
"Awaken, Ariel."
The short chant fell, and a gale whipped up around Ais as her speed suddenly increased, leaping into the air.
Calm down, maintain my breathing.
Vast Hamon energy rose from within her body, converging at her legs under Ais's control.
The next moment, the girl's long legs landed on the Monster's body, and a loud boom echoed across the plains.
To everyone's shocked eyes, the Female-bodied Monster, which stood over ten meters tall, was actually sent flying.
"Hey, hey! For real?!"
Tiona's eyes widened as she let out a cry of surprise.
"Haha! Truly incredible!"
Gareth, known for his strength, laughed out loud, feeling a strange sense of pride, like watching his own daughter finally coming into her own.
"Is this the true power of Ripple Breathing?"
A look of contemplation flashed in Finn's eyes.
On the way during the expedition, Ais had used the Hamon a few times, but always to heal companions.
From Finn's perspective, this was the first time seeing it used so unreservedly against an enemy.
It was also at this moment that Finn realized why Ais craved the power of the Hamon so much.
This level of enhancement was simply too high.
Even a speed-based attacker like Ais, who excelled in agility, could possess the power to knock back a Female-bodied Monster.
If Gareth, who specialized in strength, learned the Hamon, the effect would only be more exaggerated.
Combined with the healing effect Ais had shown before, the value of the Hamon was even higher.
"It looks like I'll have to talk to Cain when we get back."
Smashed the last Worm-type monster in front of him, Finn successfully led Tiona and the others to regroup with Riveria, his fists making a sizzling sound.
"Captain, heal your wounds quickly!"
Tione ran into the camp and came back out clutching several bottles of Elixir in each hand, opening the caps and pouring them over Finn's fists to clear the corrosive liquid.
Not far away, Bete also took out Elixirs and poured them all over Raul at once.
With gurgling sounds, Raul and Finn quickly completed their emergency treatment.
Boom!
At the same time, a deafening explosion rang out from afar, and the earth shook continuously.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and in the next second, they saw the Blonde Girl emerge unscathed through the dust, charging into the worm army once again.
A moment later, the worm army was blasted into the sky by Riveria's magic, and this sudden battle finally came to an end.
"Good job, Ais."
Finn walked up to the Blonde Girl and praised her.
"Finn, are we unable to continue the expedition?" Instead of looking happy at the praise, Ais asked with a face full of worry.
"Yeah, the camp was ambushed by Monsters and we've lost many weapons. It would be very troublesome if we continued forward and encountered new types of Monsters."
Weapons are part of an adventurer's strength; without a handy weapon, even Finn would be chased around by Monsters, as just demonstrated.
Rather than risking danger by continuing forward, the best choice was to stop in time and return to the surface.
"Ais, we can only go this far this time."
"...I understand."
Ais was silent for a long time before nodding heavily and slowly, like a machine that had lost its power.
In fact, Ais also understood Finn's difficulty, but this way, the gains would be too small.
Aside from that Female-bodied Monster just now, she basically had no high-level experience gains from this trip to the Dungeon; even if she returned to the surface, she wouldn't be able to break through to Level 6.
Recalling the news she received before the expedition that Cain had broken through to Level 3, and the image of him walking and training with Ottar, Ais's mood worsened.
What she was most worried about now was hearing the news that Cain was about to break through to Level 4 upon her return.
However...
"It shouldn't be that fast, right?"
Breaking through to Level 3 in over forty days was already exaggerated enough; no matter what, he shouldn't be breaking through to Level 4 this quickly.
After a bit of self-consolation, the girl convinced herself and walked toward the camp not far away.
It was decided, the first thing she would do after returning was to go to the Hestia Familia and ask Cain about his progress!
...
"Cain, it looks like you can reach Level 5."
On the soft, massive bed, the loli goddess stared at the Falna before her, her face filled with bewilderment.
[Cain—LV3]
[Strength: C681→SSS4012]
[Endurance: B784→SSS4410]
[Dexterity: B734→SSS4106]
[Agility: B716→SSS4201]
[Magic: A801→SSS2067]
[Development Ability: Swordsman H→G, Magic H]
[Magic: Current Propulsion, State of Selflessness, Spirit Devouring Barrier, Dismantle]
[Skills: Convergence, Minds Eye, Song of Courage, Flesh Mimicry, Super-speed Regeneration, blood evolution, Black Flash, Fist Mastery, Survival Instinct, Martial Will]
[Fist Mastery: Enhances Strength and Agility attributes; significantly accelerates the speed of training fist techniques.]
[Survival Instinct: The higher the will to live, the higher the boost to all attributes; easier to achieve breakthroughs in desperate situations.]
[Martial Will: Significantly enhances the Spirit attribute; provides resistance against mental attacks.]
To be honest, after several past experiences, Hestia always prepared herself mentally whenever she updated Cain's Falna.
Regardless of whether he had gone to the Dungeon that day or even if he had slept at home all day, she would hypnotize herself into saying that Cain would gain a massive boost and not to make a fuss.
But Cain seemed to see right through her thoughts, always finding various ways to shatter her mental defenses and shock her once again.
Last time, breaking the limit of the Magic slots, awakening two spells at once, and bringing his total Magic count to four was already exaggerated enough. Yet, just a few days later, something even bigger happened.
Awakening three skills and increasing his ability values by over 14,000 points, this directly blew past all records in Orario. Some people might not even gain that much growth after leveling up three or four times.
What horrified Hestia even more was that Cain's deeds, like his ability values, had exploded. According to the feedback from the Falna, he could increase two levels at once.
Consecutive level-ups.
Just like the fourth Magic spell, this was an anomaly never seen since the Age of Gods, truly unprecedented in every sense of the word.
Yet, as easily as eating or drinking, the youth before her had achieved this deed quite casually.
"Cain, tell me the truth. Did you sell your charms and let some other god use their divine power to strengthen you?"
"Hestia, calm down."
"I am very calm." Hestia began counting on her fingers. "26 days to break through from LV1 to LV2, 18 days from LV2 to LV3, and now another 12 days to break through from LV3 to LV5."
"Calculating by this progress, Cain, you should be able to break through from LV5 to LV6 in 7 days, from LV6 to LV7 in 3 days, and then break through one, two, three, four, five levels a day until you reach LV99."
"Maybe I should start preparing the victory banquet. Next month, our Hestia Familia will dominate Orario. Let me think... Tomorrow I'll go find Loki and challenge her. I've been annoyed with her for a long time."
Cain: "..."
Was the shock that great this time?
Looking at Hestia, who had already begun imagining a bright future, Cain's expression was a bit subtle.
However, he also understood why she would think that way.
In fact, let alone Hestia, even Cain, who was mentally prepared, was startled by this update.
He truly was a man who spent up to 20 hours a day training, while also balancing hero work and going out to kill Monsters.
The boost brought by One-Punch Cain was startlingly large, nearly matching the total sum of the ability values he had accumulated until now.
Carrying all the Cains to new heights by his own efforts, he was willing to call One-Punch Cain the ultimate king of grinders.
...
"Sigh~ I feel like this is really impossible to explain now. I won't know how to reply when other gods ask me next time."
"Then let's not make it public. On the surface, I'll still be a LV3 adventurer. I'll break through to LV4 in a month, and LV5 in two months. That's a bit more reasonable."
"True, let's do that then."
After the brief farce, Hestia snapped out of it and began performing the level-up ceremony for Cain.
Amidst laughter, a conversation that would make other adventurers burn with envy and hatred came to an end, and so did the level-up ceremony.
"Cain, after your consecutive level-ups to LV5, you can choose two development abilities at once."
"Currently available development abilities are: Luck, Tennis, Fist Fighting, Crushing, Lightning Burst, Diving, Strong Body, Magic Resistance, Abnormal Status Resistance... Which two do you want to choose?"
Just like the previous two level-ups, because of the efforts of the other Cains, the development abilities Cain could choose from were startlingly numerous.
After thinking seriously for a moment, Cain made his decision: "I'll choose Fist Fighting and Lightning Burst."
Being able to break through from LV3 to LV5 in one go, One-Punch Cain undoubtedly deserved the most credit.
In that case, this time's development abilities would focus on him, Fist Fighting, which was related to boxing, was a must-choose.
As for Crushing and Lightning Burst, which leaned toward offense, and Strong Body and Magic Resistance, which leaned toward defense, Cain thought about it and chose Lightning Burst as his second development ability.
With Reverse Cursed Technique and Super-speed Regeneration, he didn't need to worry too much about fatal injuries, further strengthening his output was the best choice.
Besides, Lightning Burst was obviously a development ability that strengthened lightning-attribute Magic, something that the Cains in any world could use.
"Fist Fighting and Lightning Burst... Done, they're selected!"
Following Cain's request, Hestia quickly picked the development abilities and completed the final step of the level-up ceremony.
"Congratulations, Cain."
A smile appeared on Hestia's face as she spoke in celebration.
"You are now LV5."
...
...
Re@d adv@nce ch@pters on p@t
guilt_free_daoist
Jo!n d!sc0rd I!nk in synops!s.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.