Ever since his first battle, it was almost as though Isis had come under some special "attention." Along the way toward the fourth floor, he kept running into monsters.
But fights of this level posed no real threat to him.
As he gradually became more accustomed to battling the Dungeon's monsters, Isis found that even though he had only received his Falna yesterday, he was already capable of dealing with them.
During that time, he also encountered one of the monsters Alicia had told him about before: Kobolds.
Though they were called Kobolds, they were essentially dog-headed monsters with dark fur, and the claws on their hands were their deadliest weapons.
Faced with monsters freshly born from cracks in the wall, Isis naturally gave them no opportunity at all. He shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bow.
Cold mist gathered in his hand, forming the Frost Soul Sword, and with a single thrust he pierced through the bodies of two Kobolds. A twist of his wrist followed, black smoke rose, and only magic stones remained on the ground.
The reason Isis had chosen to fight this way was simple: he remembered Alicia's warning not to damage the floor too much.
Rather, it would be more accurate to say that most of his magic had a rather wide area of effect, and precision control consumed too much magic power. Under those circumstances, this method was the best choice.
"Isis, did you train in swordsmanship before?"
Alicia's voice sounded from ahead of him. She did not turn around.
"Yes. My father and grandfather taught me."
Isis quickened his pace to match hers.
"Though I didn't learn it especially well. Just enough to get by."
At the word grandfather, Alicia's steps paused for a moment.
Only half a step.
But Isis noticed.
She did not ask any further questions. After a brief silence, she softly said something that did not quite sound like a response to his words at all:
"That's enough."
Isis tilted his head slightly.
"If your swordsmanship is good enough to be useful, and you combine that with magic, then you won't have any blind spots."
Her tone was calm, as though stating a fact long since proven.
"Most mages are defeated in close combat not because their magic isn't strong enough, but because they have no way out. Only someone with a retreat can truly bring out the full potential of their magic."
She paused for a moment.
"Your grandfather taught you well."
Those four words were spoken lightly, but they carried a different sort of weight.
For Alicia to say someone had taught well, Isis had a fairly good idea what that implied about the caliber of his grandfather.
"Thank you. I'll tell him when I get back."
Alicia said nothing more and kept walking.
Her manner of walking had not changed, and yet Isis felt that the atmosphere was different from what it had been three seconds ago—like a sliver of light had slipped in through a crack in the window, only to vanish in the next blink.
…
After that, the rest of the time became rather monotonous.
Encounter monsters. Kill monsters.
The same sequence repeated over and over.
That was simply what life was like for adventurers in the Dungeon.
Perhaps some people could find the meaning of adventure in those monsters.
But… Isis felt that most of the time, what the Dungeon truly gave adventurers was the terror of hovering at the edge between life and death.
After passing through the fifth floor and entering the sixth, the chambers changed. They became broader, and here Isis finally had enough space to fully use his magic.
At that moment, Alicia's cool and steady voice rang out again.
"From here on, we may encounter War Shadows. I already told you about them earlier."
"You may retreat at any time. This is only your first expedition into the Dungeon. There's no need to force yourself to defeat them."
Hearing that, Isis fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes, I understand, Senior Alicia."
"But… I want to try."
He voiced what was in his heart.
Of course it was possible to shrink back when faced with difficulty. But if Isis wanted to become the sort of adventurer whose name would be remembered in history, if he wanted to become that peerless prodigy, then he would have to accomplish what ordinary people could not.
Seeing how firm he was, Alicia gave a slight nod.
And after they entered the sixth floor, just as she had predicted, monsters appeared.
This time, the scale of the wall splitting open was far greater than anything Isis had seen before. It almost covered the entire wall at once.
One unnerving monster after another was born from within.
Then, with an especially loud cracking sound, a monster's feet landed on the ground.
If it had to be described in a single word, it would be:
A shadow.
About one meter sixty in height, its entire body was black from head to toe, with limbs shaped roughly like those of a human.
And yet it had no fur, no skin—its whole body looked as though it had been coated in black paint.
Only on its cross-shaped head was there a round object, like a tiny mirror, embedded where its face ought to have been.
It looked like an inhuman creature made directly from shadow itself.
A monster of the sixth floor.
War Shadow.
And not just one, either.
Two of them appeared at once.
No—
With another tear in the wall and a flash of dark red light, a third War Shadow emerged.
Three of them now stood before his eyes.
Three.
Alicia's brow drew together ever so slightly, then smoothed out again.
The War Shadows she usually encountered on this floor were generally one at a time. If luck was bad, then two.
Three appearing simultaneously was rather rare.
She had already shifted to stand half a step ahead of Isis.
She had not thought much about it.
She had simply moved into that position.
"You can fall back."
Her voice remained perfectly calm.
"Wait until they spread out, then defeat them one by one. You're a mage—one against three is not to your advantage. There's no need to force a direct confrontation."
She was merely stating the facts, then waiting for him to decide.
Because she knew that someone who truly wanted advice did not need to be persuaded—and someone who had already made up their mind would only hear anything you said as confirmation of their own choice.
So she waited for him to speak.
At the same time, she was also waiting to see clearly what was in the eyes of this young elf boy before her—the one who had received his Falna only yesterday, and had already made it to the sixth floor today.
Was it fear?
Or something else?
"Senior Alicia."
Isis's voice was not loud, but it was steady.
"Am I allowed to use my magic a little more freely?"
Alicia did not answer immediately.
She looked at him for about two seconds.
It was not hesitation.
It was confirmation.
She was confirming that what shone in his eyes when he said those words was not spite, nor bravado, but the calm clarity of someone who knew exactly what he was doing.
She had seen too many newcomers whose legs started shaking the moment they reached the sixth floor.
She had seen those who gritted their teeth and refused to retreat.
And she had seen the rare few who remained truly clear-headed, calmly assessing what they could and could not do.
The Isis before her was clearly one of those calm and clear-headed newcomers.
And he had only received his Falna yesterday.
"You may."
Alicia nodded, the faintest trace of warmth curling at the corner of her lips.
"Below the sixth floor, this is no longer the Path of Beginning. You don't need to worry about the area of effect. Use your power freely."
"Then I'll try fighting without holding back."
A smile appeared on Isis's face.
After all, with Alicia—a Level 4 adventurer—standing behind him as his safety net, he could afford to go all out against these three War Shadows.
In the next instant, the magic power around Isis began to boil.
It surged and roared, kicking up a violent gust.
His pitch-black eyes gleamed with a starlike radiance.
"Mana Burn."
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