Leon turned the brass pocket watch over in his hand, running his thumb across its familiar surface while he waited for Tsubaki to finish her business and come back.
Meanwhile, Jeanne's team was busy elsewhere.
The Dungeon, Floor 10.
White mist blanketed the entire level. Several figures moved through the "grasslands," locked in combat with Orcs and Silverbacks.
"Hah..."
Jeanne's spear punched clean through an Orc's skull. The creature swayed for a moment, then collapsed with a heavy thud.
She shook out her wrist from habit and glanced to the side.
Rose stood surrounded by seven or eight Orcs and Silverbacks, her feet planted like she'd grown roots. Nothing about her posture shifted under the assault. With nothing but her sword and shield, she parried and deflected each strike with unhurried precision, and the monsters couldn't push a single attack past her guard.
So easy. The gap between Level 2 and Level 1 is actually this huge? You don't really feel it outside of combat...
"Clang, clang, clang..."
Rose narrowed her eyes, feeling each impact travel up her shield arm, and the effect of her Development Ability, Guard, flickered through her mind. The corners of her mouth ticked up.
Whether it's the raw stats or the defensive technique boost, everything feels different after Guard kicked in. This is incredible...
She kept working through the attacks, measuring the change Level 2 had brought. Once she was satisfied she had the feel of it, her gaze sharpened.
The blade in her hand flashed with a cold silver light.
A rapid succession of strikes cut through the air, the silver gleam appearing and vanishing in the same breath as her sword returned to its sheath.
A wet series of impacts followed.
Blood erupted from the monsters in front of her in fountains, and they toppled one after another like a line of dominoes.
"That's... that's amazing..."
Laurier and Aura, who had just finished off a single monster between the two of them, stared at Rose's performance with their mouths open.
"So this is what Level 2 looks like?" Aura murmured, eyes fixed on the scene. "It doesn't matter how many upper-floor monsters show up. They can't threaten her at all."
Jeanne walked over with a smile, surveyed the fruits of their labor, and said warmly, "Don't be in such a rush. With your talent and the work you're putting in, reaching Level 2 isn't hard. You'll get there soon."
"Right! Jeanne's right. Aura, we have to keep at it!" Laurier raised her small fists and gave herself and Aura a pep talk.
"Mm. I know," Aura said, nodding.
"All right, everyone." Rose clapped her hands as she approached, all smiles. "Let's clean up the battlefield first, then find somewhere to eat."
"Yay! Food! Food! Food!"
At the mention of food, Laurier's eyes lit up. She cheered and swallowed reflexively.
In just a few days, Rose's cooking had already won over everyone in the group, Leon included.
Watching Laurier skip ahead to scout for a spot to stop, Jeanne turned to Rose with open envy. "I honestly can't believe it. On top of being that good with sword and shield, you cook like this too."
A faint smile crossed Rose's lips at the praise, almost too quick to catch. "Does Jeanne want to learn cooking too? It's not hard at all. Want me to teach you?"
Jeanne blinked, her cheeks going a little pink. She fidgeted. "Teach... teach me? Really? Wouldn't that be a lot of trouble..."
Rose caught the hesitation instantly. Her long eyes narrowed, and she gave a soft laugh. "Not at all. You can just watch while I cook. A little every day, and you'll be making real progress before you know it."
Missing the amusement underneath entirely, Jeanne beamed, her delicate features lighting up. "Thank you, Rose!"
The four of them kept chatting as they walked, and before long they found a relatively secure spot. A quick look around confirmed it would do.
"Here's good. Time to light a fire and get cooking!"
"Rose, what are we having for lunch today?"
"Curry!"
"Yes!"
The ease came entirely from the strength they'd built up. If every member of the team were just a Level 1 lower-rank adventurer, there was no way they could relax like this on Floor 10. Forget camp cooking. Getting slightly better rations than dry jerky would count as a luxury.
Strength wasn't the only factor, either. Load capacity came into it just as much.
Every adventurer knew that exploring and hauling loot out of the Dungeon meant working under strict weight limits. One extra supply or item going down meant one less bit of profit coming back up.
So under normal circumstances, adventurers agonized over weight distribution before every descent, for themselves and their party alike. Past the bare necessities, everything got trimmed where it could be, all for maximum return.
That was exactly why Rivira, the town on the Under Resort at Floor 18, existed in the first place.
And it was exactly why a group like Jeanne's, setting up camp like this in the upper floors, stood out so sharply.
Sure enough, another party nearby kept stealing glances their way, muttering among themselves.
"Oi, check it out. Four beauties running as a team."
"What, you thinking of hitting on them? I'm warning you right now. Don't go pulling that Soma Familia bastard routine. If you want to stir up trouble, leave me out of it. I'm not ready to die."
"Hah?"
"Hah, my ass. You absolute rookie. Your eye's so bad you can't even tell they're Level 2. Honestly, it's a miracle you've stayed alive this long."
"L... Level 2?" The shifty-looking young man froze the moment his captain said it.
He thought back to what had just been running through his head and broke out in a cold sweat, beads of it forming on his forehead.
"Heh. What, still interested? If you are, I won't stop you. Good luck." The captain's voice dripped with mockery.
"No no no, Captain. They're upper-rank adventurers. I wouldn't pick a fight with them if you gave me ten times the nerve. That'd be suicide." The young man waved his hands in a panic, his voice cracking.
"At least you've got that much sense." The captain grunted. "Listen, kid. Down here, the most important thing isn't your fists. It's your eyes. You get that? A sharp eye saves you from nine out of ten problems. The only time it won't is when you hit a wall. You know the type. The bastards who love hiding their power level."
"Hitting a wall? Hiding their power level? Captain, you really have been around the block!" The young man's eyes darted, and he hurried to pile on the flattery.
"Tch. You walk these roads long enough, you're going to take a hit." The captain snorted, and there was something complicated in his tone, wariness mixed with a kind of weary resignation. "Back in the day, even Freya Familia and Loki Familia got pushed around by the real monsters in those two familias. Even the Warlord got worked over in his time. What I'm griping about is nothing."
Then, like something else had just come to him, he leaned in to pass on more of his hard-won wisdom.
"Kid, burn this into your head. If you ever run into someone in a hooded cloak, mask on, all mysterious, only half their face showing..."
He dropped his voice, and his next words came out flat and absolute.
"Run. As far as you can. Nine times out of ten, those types are sharp and vicious. You see one, you take the long way around. Don't stick your nose in their business."
"Huh?"
The young man blinked, then snuck a look in the direction of Jeanne's group. He took in the matching black hooded cloaks, and his heart gave a sharp jolt.
He whipped his head back around to stare at his seasoned captain, and somehow it seemed like a blazing halo had risen behind the man, so bright it was almost blinding down in the Dungeon's gloom.
Like...
The sun!
...
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