Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and a day had already passed.
The Tower of Babel, First Sublevel.
Su Lun stood at the entrance of the spiral staircase leading underground. Before him, a passage wide enough to accommodate thousands of people stretched into the darkness at the edge of his vision.
"The adventure starts right here," Alise's voice rang out beside him, brimming with her usual vitality.
Today, she had changed into a standard set of adventurer's leather armor. Her fiery red ponytail swayed gently with her movements, and her emerald eyes sparkled under the light of the magic stone lamps.
Impatient to get started, Alise asked, "So, how is it? Nervous?"
"To be honest, a little," Su Lun nodded. His right hand subconsciously brushed against his palm, where the mark of the Abyssal Grimoire was pulsing with a slight heat, as if resonating with the heartbeat of the Dungeon.
Lyu Lion stood quietly a bit further back, dressed in gear that allowed for easy movement. The wooden sword at her waist, bearing faint signs of wear, was her most reliable partner.
"According to the Guild's records, Floors 1 through 12 are technically within the manageable range for Level 1 adventurers," she paused, her blue eyes shifting toward the two of them, lingering particularly on Su Lun. "But that is only in theory. In reality, more rookies die on the Upper Floors every year than veterans die in the Deep Floors."
Her tone grew heavier. "There are three reasons: underestimating basic monsters, recklessness, and… a lack of vigilance against the 'Newbie Killers.'"
"Newbie Killers…" Su Lun repeated in a low voice, key points from his research flashing through his mind.
"The War Shadows on the sixth floor, and the Killer Ants on the seventh," Lyu picked up the thread. "They have specific attack patterns that are lethal to the inexperienced. Our goal for today is to reach the tenth floor. If we're in good condition, we can briefly touch the edge of the eleventh, but if anything feels off, we retreat immediately. Understood?"
"Understood!" Alise chirped, straightening her back.
"Su Lun." Lyu turned her gaze to him. "Your magic system is unique, which makes it an unknown variable within the Dungeon. Stay alert. Monsters are not adaptable, but different species have natural resistances or weaknesses to specific elemental attributes."
"I'll keep that in mind," Su Lun nodded seriously.
"Then, let's move out."
The first few floors were much as the records described: wide passages, high vaulted ceilings, and spiral stairs that continued to descend. The rocky walls were covered in the emblems of various Familias and scrawled, encouraging words left by predecessors—this was the starting point for countless dreams and journeys.
Monsters appeared soon enough.
Green-skinned Goblins brandishing crude wooden clubs crawled out from crevices in the rocks. They were followed by Kobolds—shorter and more comical in their movements but much faster—who let out shrill squeals, their claws scraping against the stone with a sound that set one's teeth on edge.
"Goblin teeth and Kobold claws are basic materials," Alise explained as she dispatched them with practiced ease. "They don't sell for much, though—just enough to cover repair costs during the rookie phase." Her movements were fluid and powerful.
Su Lun didn't rush to use his magic. Instead, he focused on observing Alise's combat style—her precise footwork, her wide, sweeping slashes, and the way she always kept a bit of strength in reserve to deal with the unexpected. This was experience honed through countless real battles.
Lyu's combat style was the polar opposite of Alise's. She rarely made large movements; her wooden sword struck the monsters' vitals with the simplest possible trajectory, achieving maximum efficiency. Occasionally, she would chant in a low voice, unleashing her magic, Luminous Wind, to clear out clusters of monsters.
By the third floor, a new monster appeared: the Dungeon Lizard. These brownish-tan lizards were nearly the size of an adult human. They didn't "spawn" like typical monsters; instead, they lived on the walls and ceilings, launching sudden ambushes as adventurers passed beneath them.
"Watch the ceiling and the walls!" Alise warned, splitting a lizard in half as it lunged from above.
Su Lun tried using Eldritch Blast. The beam of energy struck one lizard, but it sent the others scurrying in all directions, which actually made things more difficult.
Energy attacks are good for single targets, but against scattered enemies, they risk breaking the formation… Su Lun quickly assessed the situation.
"Switch your magic," Lyu's calm voice came from his side.
Su Lun immediately adjusted his strategy, thrusting both hands forward. "Burning Hands!"
A cone of flame roared out, engulfing three lizards that had bunched together, turning them into black smoke.
"Different monsters require different methods," Alise summarized. Her figure darted between the remaining lizards; her Righteous Fight skill further enhanced her melee effectiveness, her blade unfailingly finding the weakest spots. "You have a wide variety of magic—that's a huge advantage. You need to use it flexibly."
They continued downward.
Starting from the fifth floor, the environment changed noticeably. The passages narrowed, crossroads became more frequent, and the ceiling dropped to a height of about five meters. The light grew dimmer, and their magic stone lamps could only illuminate the area immediately in front of them.
"From here on, the monsters' basic abilities are roughly around the G to F range for Level 1 stats," Alise lowered her voice. Lyu nodded in agreement.
Lyu added to the captain's words, "That means they're tougher and more stubborn. Be careful; we're approaching the sixth floor."
The floor of the War Shadows.
The moment they stepped onto the sixth floor, the temperature seemed to drop several degrees. A chilly aura drifted through the air, and the shadows on the stone walls varied in depth, looking as if they were slowly squirming.
"War Shadows, nicknamed 'Newbie Killers,'" Alise said, her hand resting on her hilt as her tone turned serious. "They look like humanoid shadows, about 1.6 meters tall with long, thin limbs and incredibly sharp claws. Their most dangerous trait is their attack method—"
She stopped abruptly.
At a corner in the passage ahead, a patch of dense shadow "stood up." It was pitch black, with mirror-like, rounded eyeballs embedded in a cross-shaped face. Its arms hung down to its knees, and the three hooked claws at its fingertips glinted with a cold light.
"—The ability to strike with extreme speed!" The moment Alise finished her sentence, the War Shadow moved.
It lunged, its claws aiming directly for her throat in the next second, moving so fast it was nothing but a black blur.
Su Lun's reflexes were faster than his thoughts.
"Shield!"
A translucent field of force expanded in front of Alise's neck just as the claws slammed into it, producing a sharp, grinding screech. A red glint flashed through the War Shadow's circular eyes.
Alise smirked. She leaned forward with the momentum, thrusting her longsword—a precise, cunning backhand pierce that drove the tip straight through the War Shadow's chest.
Black smoke rose, and a sharp, black finger-blade hit the ground with a clang.
"War Shadow Finger-blade, a mid-grade material," Alise said, picking it up with a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Su Lun. Without that shield, those claws definitely would have punched through my leather armor."
"Their movement is way too fast…" Su Lun said, still feeling the lingering fear.
"They launch attacks from any place where there is a shadow," Lyu's voice came from above. She had somehow already positioned herself atop a stone pillar. "Because of that, conventional defense is very ineffective against them. Many rookies fall right here."
They encountered War Shadows four more times after that. Each time, they appeared from the most difficult angles—cracks in the ceiling, puddles at their feet, or even from the black smoke of other monsters that hadn't yet dissipated.
Su Lun gradually found his rhythm. He compressed the casting time of Shield even further, attempting to deploy the defense the moment he sensed an unnatural fluctuation in the shadows.
"You're adapting pretty fast," Alise praised after they finished off the fourth War Shadow.
"I'm not adapting to the monsters," Su Lun waved his hand, pointing to his head. "I'm adapting to the environment. Before a War Shadow appears, the 'luminance' of that shadow changes very slightly… My mental perception can just barely catch the sign."
Alise blinked in surprise. "Is that the sensory advantage of a Mage? Those of us who rely on our bodies can't feel things that subtle."
It seems high Perception and mental focus are huge advantages against these types of specialized monsters, Su Lun noted to himself.
The seventh floor.
The environment was damper here, the air thick with the smell of leaf mulch. Luminous moss grew on the rock walls, providing a dim, ghostly green light.
Then, they saw them—Killer Ants.
Just as the records described, they were insectoid monsters covered in hard carapaces, with six legs, a humped upper body, and forelimbs that ended in four sharp claws. They stood about 1.5 meters tall, and the moment they spotted the group, they let out high-frequency "skreeing" sounds.
"It's calling its swarm!" Alise's expression darkened. "Finish it quickly!"
She charged.
But in that brief delay, more Killer Ants came rustling out from the passages in three different directions. There were twenty of them, and judging by the sounds, more were on the way.
This is bad. There are too many, and their shells are too hard. The Captain's sword will have trouble breaking through. Su Lun's mind raced.
Lyu's hand also moved toward her wooden sword, but Su Lun spoke up first: "Miss Lyu, let me try first. I want to test a magical countermeasure."
Lyu glanced at him, gave a slight nod, and chose to watch for the moment.
Su Lun thought fast. Burning Hands? No, the Killer Ants were too spread out; the cone of fire wouldn't catch enough of them. Eldritch Blast? He'd seen it with the lizards—monsters like this have an instinctive reaction to dodge straightforward projectiles…
Got it! Let's try a combo!
"Alise, grab their attention for one second!" Su Lun raised both hands, splitting his mental energy into two streams to construct two different spell models simultaneously.
"You got it!" Alise didn't hesitate, diving forward to provoke the swarm with the superb agility granted by her skill bonuses. She targeted their joints and compound eyes—attacks that weren't lethal but successfully enraged them.
One second passed in a flash.
"Magic Missile—Metamagic: Distant Spell!"
Three missiles shot out, but their target wasn't the Killer Ants themselves—it was the ground directly in front of their feet! The Distant Spell effect greatly increased the missiles' range, allowing them to slam into the rocky floor with a cacophony of flying debris.
As expected, the Killer Ant swarm was drawn to the sudden noise and vibration, instinctively turning toward the source—a natural trait of most creatures, especially insectoid monsters.
In the moment their attention was diverted, Su Lun's right hand clenched into a claw. He targeted the Killer Ant closest to Alise—the one with the most obvious gap in its carapace—and yanked his hand upward.
"Mage Hand!"
The invisible force of the giant hand gripped the edge of the ant's back carapace and flipped it with all its might!
Crack!
The Killer Ant, its center of gravity destroyed, let out a short shriek as it was flipped onto its back, its vulnerable underbelly completely exposed.
How could Alise possibly miss such an opportunity? Her sword struck like a coiled viper, precisely piercing through the gap in the carapace and skewering the monster.
A trail of corpses was left in their wake.
"Nice one!" Alise's eyes lit up as she shouted excitedly.
It worked! Using the monsters' instincts and magical control together! Su Lun felt a surge of excitement, but he didn't stop.
The remaining Killer Ants clearly didn't understand what had happened, but the death of their kin made them even more berserk. However, without their absolute numerical advantage, the threat was greatly diminished.
The battle entered a familiar rhythm: Alise on offense, Su Lun on support. Mage Hand was dedicated to flipping and shoving the ants to disrupt their attack patterns, while Magic Missile took the opportunity to strike their eyes and joints.
About a minute later, the battle was over.
"Drop items… Killer Ant claws. Good quality." Lyu collected the loot while pointing down the passage. "Look over there. Purple Moths and Blue Butterflies."
A few palm-sized Purple Moths fluttered in the distance, shedding pale purple scales. Further away, a butterfly with translucent, cyan-glowing wings drifted slowly, its scales shimmering like a dream under the dim light.
"Purple Moths are a small species. Their scales are poisonous; if you inhale too much, you'll be paralyzed," Alise warned. However, most adventurers used these small monsters to build up their Developmental Abilities, specifically Abnormal Resistance. "The Blue Butterfly is a rare species. It doesn't fight, but the powder from its wings has healing properties. It's used to make potions."
Su Lun looked at the Blue Butterfly. It was indeed beautiful—so beautiful it almost didn't seem like a monster of the Dungeon. It traced an elegant cyan arc through the air and disappeared into a deep crack in the rock wall.
The Dungeon isn't just about ugliness and slaughter, he thought with a touch of sentiment.
"Continuing on," Lyu's voice pulled his thoughts back. "Starting from the eighth floor, the monsters' basic abilities are roughly E to C. There is a significant jump in difficulty. Also… we're nearing the tenth floor."
The eighth and ninth floors were transition zones. There were more varieties of monsters, including the Hard Goblins—sturdier versions that could throw rocks—and swarms of Needle Wasps with venomous stingers. The terrain grew complicated as well, with numerous forks and dead ends.
Su Lun's mana control and combat rhythm improved rapidly through the practical application on these floors. He learned to "consume mana slowly," starting with low-output cantrips to test the monsters' reactions before deciding whether to increase the power. Simultaneously, through his previous seven days of training and current practice, he began to grasp the "Parallel Casting" technique Lyu had taught him, managing to maintain spell focus while moving and dodging.
"Your rate of progress is a little scary," Alise remarked during a short break on the ninth floor, taking a swig of water. "For your first time in the Dungeon, you're doing better than most of the rookies our Familia used to have."
"Maybe because my system is a bit different," Su Lun replied, drinking some water to soothe his dry throat. "I don't need full incantations, which skips several steps. I can focus my mind more on the construction and control of the spell."
"Isn't that basically cheating?!" Alise laughed, her eyes full of pure admiration. "But it's a good kind of cheating! The stronger our companions are, the more people we can protect! That is the creed of the Astraea Familia!"
Protect more people… Su Lun looked at the girl's brilliant smile and felt the genuine passion in her words. In this dangerous world, that kind of pure light felt exceptionally warm.
The tenth floor.
The moment they stepped onto this level, the atmosphere shifted.
First was the temperature—it dropped at least five or six degrees, turning their breath into white mist. Pale frost-fog floated in the air, causing visibility to plummet. Next was the sound; the faint "pulse" of the Dungeon, which usually felt like a distant heartbeat, became clear and rhythmic here, thumping against their eardrums.
"This frost-fog interferes with your sense of direction and masks the monsters' presence and sounds," Alise said in a low voice. "However, the fog is usually thinner near the entrance to the floor. It can serve as a temporary rest area… look over there."
She pointed to the left, where a small area was indeed clear of mist. Previous adventurers had even carved crude stone benches and alcoves for supplies into the rock. "Many parties use this as the final supply point before heading deeper," Alise explained. "But we're in good shape today, so we'll head straight through."
The two of them stepped into the thick fog.
Visibility dropped to less than ten meters. The light from the magic stone lamps was scattered by the mist, making the surroundings even more blurry. Footsteps became muffled, and their sense of direction began to warp.
"Give me your hand," Alise reached out naturally. "Getting separated in a place like this is no joke."
Su Lun took her hand. Her palm was warm, calloused from long years of wielding a sword, yet it provided a reliable sense of security.
Shadows of monsters began to emerge from the fog. First came the Orcs—beastmen taller and bulkier than Goblins, wielding stone axes and snorting as they emerged from the mist in packs. Then came the Imps. These small, bat-winged monsters were clearly more cunning; they hid deep in the fog, throwing poisoned stones or suddenly diving down for a clawed ambush.
The most troublesome were the Badbathers—a type of bat-like monster. They didn't attack directly; instead, they circled high above the fog layer, emitting a unique ultrasonic wave. The high-frequency sound bored into Su Lun's ears, making his head spin. When he tried to focus his mind to construct a spell model, he felt a clear sluggishness and interference.
"We have to take out those annoying bats first!" Alise shouted with a frown, the sonic waves clearly affecting her as well.
Sonic interference with casting… I need a wide-area attack with enough range.
Su Lun gritted his teeth against the discomfort and focused. At that moment, facing a mixed group of powerful monsters, the condition for Alise's Seika No Saki skill—"Engaging a Strong Foe"—was triggered. Her Agility and Magic stats began to receive a massive correction.
Her movements became visibly swifter, and the aura around her grew sharper.
Su Lun took a deep breath, fighting the ringing in his head. He raised his hands, his mental energy spinning at high speed—
"Burning Hands—Metamagic: Distant Spell! Metamagic: Empowered Spell!"
Two cones of flame, far thicker and hotter than the original version, erupted upward! Distant Spell pushed the range to nearly twenty meters, while Empowered Spell drastically increased the temperature.
Sssss—!
The frost-fog was instantly vaporized by the heat. The six Badbathers circling above were fully exposed; they tried to dodge in a panic, but it was too late. The flames engulfed them, leaving behind nothing but charred remains.
However, the crisis wasn't over. The Orcs and Imps took advantage of the gap while they were dealing with the bats, lunging madly from the mist in greater numbers than expected! Alise was instantly surrounded by dozens of Orcs and several Imps.
"Tsk, it just never ends, does it?!" Alise spat, but the battle intent in her emerald eyes burned even brighter.
Now, she was simultaneously in the states of "Battle" (melee combat), "Adversity" (surrounded by multiple enemies), and "Engaging a Strong Foe" (monster strength and numbers reached the threshold). All three corrective effects of Seika No Saki were active! Furthermore, her Strength, Agility, and Magic began to receive additional, time-based continuous minor boosts. Her aura surged like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
She took a deep breath, funneling her mana—now exceptionally active under the skill bonuses—into her sword, Red Order, and throughout her entire body. She chanted loudly:
"Burn, burn, burn—Flame, grant me your full power!"
Magic: Agaris Alpenbroel, activated!
Crimson flames erupted, wrapping around her limbs and her longsword. Her speed increased exponentially, leaving trails of blazing fire in the mist! Simultaneously, her Seito Seika skill synchronized to amplify both her melee combat and magic effects, making the swirling flames even more intense and condensed.
Every slash carried explosive fire-power; every thrust was as fast as a lightning strike. She seemed to transform into a spirit of flame, weaving through the enemy swarm at will. Red Order became a gale of scarlet, precisely piercing Orc throats and severing Imp wings. The attached flames scorched their wounds with a sizzle, dealing continuous damage.
The thick hides of the Orcs were defenseless before the magical fire, and the Imps shrieked in agony from the flying sparks.
Su Lun provided full support, using Magic Missile to pick off enemies trying to ambush them from the flanks, while Shield stood ready to block any attacks she couldn't dodge in time.
With their seamless cooperation and Alise's total explosion of power, the wave of mixed monsters was swiftly annihilated.
The flames slowly died down around Alise. Her face bore a healthy, post-exercise flush and a satisfied smile, her brow beaded with fine sweat.
"That was refreshing!" She flicked her sword—though there was no blood on it, the habitual motion was full of the resonance of victory. She looked at Su Lun, her eyes sparkling. "That was some great coordination! How are you holding up? Want to keep exploring?"
The Captain's stamina is truly monster-class… Su Lun complained inwardly, but seeing her so full of spirit, he couldn't help but smile and nod. "No problem. Let's go."
Nearby, Lyu watched them silently, a nearly imperceptible softness flickering in her ice-blue eyes. She stepped forward, following them soundlessly like a reliable shadow, continuing her duty as their guardian and observer.
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Danmachi: My Magic Style is Different from Yours (30 Chapters – Ongoing)
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