Sure enough, Laurier launched right in, unable to hold back.
"Today the Floor Boss Goliath respawned. You all know about that, right?"
As everyone knew, the respawn cycle for the middle-floor Floor Boss, the Giant Goliath, was about two weeks.
That was only a rough benchmark, though. The actual timing wasn't fixed and could vary to some degree.
The one that respawned today had come out nearly three weeks after the last one.
And when Laurier said "everyone here knows," she had good reason to say so.
Even though Leon had barely set foot outside these past days, immersed in studying and practicing magic, he had never slacked on gathering information.
Every day someone from the household made a trip to the Guild to check the bulletin board for the latest news on the city and the Dungeon.
Something as big as a Floor Boss respawn, given the Guild's information network, would be reported almost instantly and posted on the bulletin board to warn Adventurers to stay on their guard.
"Mm, this respawn ran a bit long, but it's nothing unusual, within normal variance. So, did something happen on Floor 17?"
Leon picked up his cup, drained the iced lemon water in one go, and wiped his mouth, sounding rather unconcerned.
"To us, Goliath's strong, of course. It is a Lv. 4 Floor Boss, a different breed from the regular monsters. But even so, it's nothing to a First-Class Adventurer, right? At most it's a warmup punching bag for a Familia's combat members."
Laurier's eyes lit up at his words.
"Hehe, this has nothing to do with the First-Class Adventurers! It's those outlaws from Rivira! They clashed with an expedition party thrown together by surface folks!"
Jeanne, who had been on home duty looking after Kureha today, blinked at that.
"Huh?"
"Shocking, right? Hehe, they got into a huge brawl over who got Goliath on Floor 17. I heard quite a few people got seriously injured!"
"In the end the Guild had to dispatch the Ganesha Familia to step in and mediate before this farce ended!"
"Ah?"
...
After dinner, in the living room.
The hot summer night made everyone drowsy.
Bellies full and nothing much to do, the group all sprawled out on the couches, dozing off.
"What?! Goliath dropped a Goliath Hide? And the highest-quality kind?!"
When Leon caught the tail end of Laurier asking Aura about what materials the Floor Boss had dropped, and heard the answer, he shot up straight like a spring.
The dramatic reaction made Rose pause mid-motion as she combed Jeanne's hair. The others all looked over curiously.
"What's gotten into you? Why the big reaction?"
Rose tilted her head.
"It's just a Goliath Hide. Doesn't seem like anything to make a fuss about, does it?"
Laurier blinked her wide eyes.
"..."
The corner of Leon's mouth twitched. He gave an awkward laugh and sat back down.
"Uh, sorry, sorry. Just a bit of a... reflex."
Rose gave him a thoughtful glance. Thinking of Leon's usual behavior, her long eyes curved into crescents, and she teased softly with a smile.
"Could it be... that you heard someone else got their hands on a rare material and turned green with envy?"
"..."
"My my, looks like I guessed right? Hehe!"
"..."
Laurier and Aura exchanged a glance, not quite following Leon's train of thought.
Jeanne, on the other hand, seemed to have picked up on something. She tilted her head slightly without disrupting Rose's combing and asked with curiosity.
"A Goliath Hide. There's something special about it, for you to get this worked up?"
Leon pressed his lips together, his tone laced with undisguised envy.
"That thing... even though the Giant Goliath is only a Lv. 4 Floor Boss, among all the Floor Bosses it's the sole one specialized in defense. The materials it drops aren't just good for making Second-Class Arms."
He paused, raising his voice a little.
"A Goliath Hide is a core material for forging First-Class Arms, and it's a rare defensive one at that! Just think about how valuable that is."
Once he'd explained, everyone finally understood where Leon's over-the-top envy came from.
As everyone knew, no matter the world, compared to offensive weapons, protective armor was always more precious.
It was, after all, what kept you alive. That was always the top priority.
It was just that next to the dazzling flair of various weapons, armor tended to seem less eye-catching.
In general, when it came to value:
The formula of weapons < armor < accessories held true in most cases.
That naturally didn't account for the exceptionally rare special pieces of equipment.
"Material for First-Class Arms, huh. That'd easily fetch ten million valis, wouldn't it?"
Laurier counted on her fingers to estimate.
"About that, yeah."
Leon nodded.
"Armor at that tier starts at ten million valis at the very lowest, and once a top-tier smith forges it into a finished piece, selling it for a hundred million isn't out of the question."
"Truly a rare material dropped by a Floor Boss..."
Aura let out a soft sigh.
In the living room, everyone chatted about the topic for a while.
Still, it wasn't hard to tell from their expressions that this was at most dinner-table gossip, nothing that held their interest for long.
For these ladies, compared to what was going on outside, their thoughts were clearly tied to matters within the Familia itself.
Like the still-comatose Kureha, or Leon's progress with his magic.
Leon set down his teacup and addressed them all.
"Tomorrow I'll head into the Dungeon with you. Rose, it's your turn on home duty tomorrow, right? Take good care of Kureha."
Rose nodded gently and said softly.
"Mm, leave her to me. All of you be careful out there."
...
The next day, clouds once again blanketed the sky.
For the Adventurers about to head deep into the Dungeon, though, it made next to no difference.
Dungeon Floor 12, at the entrance of the passage leading down to the middle floors.
Leon, Jeanne, Laurier, and Aura had paused here for a brief rest, taking care of last-minute preparations.
Laurier squeezed her waterskin and took a small mouthful of cool spring water, gazing over at Leon with open envy.
"Leon, your Development Ability pick was Mage... uu, the magic circles are just too beautiful, and they're insanely practical too."
On the way here, the group had long grown used to the surge in power of Leon's Fireball.
Or rather, it was within expectations, so no one found it particularly shocking.
The one thing that kept drawing their eyes after he leveled up was that crimson magic circle, swirling with mysterious light, that would flare to life at the tip of his staff, under his palm, or at his feet each time he cast a spell.
The Mage ability wasn't just something Laurier and Aura envied. Leon was quite pleased with it himself.
What wannabe wizard wouldn't want his own magic circle?
He was no exception.
There was no deeper reason to it. It was flashy, cool, and badass.
And what's more...
Mage wasn't just for show.
"Hehe, no need to be envious."
"With your fighting styles, a prospective magic swordsman and a full mage, when you hit Lv. 2 you'll definitely pick up Mage too. As long as you keep practicing and actively using magic, it's practically a done deal."
"Lv. 2, huh..."
Laurier clenched her small fist, fighting spirit igniting in her eyes.
"Guess I'll have to work twice as hard! Right, Aura!"
"Mm."
Aura nodded in earnest agreement, her small face serious.
At that moment, Jeanne, having finished maintaining her weapon, gave a light clap to draw everyone's attention.
"All right, everyone. We've rested enough. It's time to head into the middle floors."
Her voice was steady and clear.
"One last check on your fire-sprite cloth gear. If there are no issues, we set out now."
"Yes."
Everyone answered in unison.
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