Dungeon, Eighth Floor.
Ouka walked on the path back to the surface with the members of the Take-Mikazuchi Familia.
As the captain of the Take-Mikazuchi Familia, the Level 2 Ouka walked at the very front to lead the way.
"Strange, why are there so few monsters on the eighth floor today?"
"It is a bit unusual."
Chigusa looked around in confusion.
From the time they arrived on the eighth floor until now, they had only encountered one wave of monsters along the way, which was clearly abnormal.
"There's movement over there."
Mikoto suddenly stopped and looked to the right.
"It seems like many monsters are gathered together."
As the scout of the team, everyone trusted Mikoto's judgment.
Seeing her say this, the members of the Take-Mikazuchi Familia stopped one after another and looked at their captain, Ouka.
Ouka thought for a moment, "It should be people from another Familia being besieged by monsters."
There's no pattern to how the Dungeon births monsters.
Being besieged by monsters was something Ouka encountered eight out of ten times he went into the Dungeon; it was quite common.
"Let's go take a look. If we can save them, let's help; we might even make some extra money."
"Okay, I'll go help first."
Mikoto, who had the strongest sense of justice, was the first to rush out.
Like the captain Ouka, she was also a Level 2 adventurer.
On an upper floor like the eighth, even if monsters gathered together, they were no match for her.
Advancing at full speed, she soon arrived before a huge room.
Hundreds of Killer Ants were gathered together, continuously charging into the room.
In the surrounding open space, there were also other monsters attracted by the sounds of battle.
Purple Moths, Needle Rabbits, Gray-Armored Geckos... all sorts of monsters were gathered together.
Facing this startling scene, the battle-hardened Mikoto did not hesitate at all and decisively rushed in.
Cold light sliced through the air, and the monsters blocking Mikoto's path were torn apart one by one. She was like a sharp blade, tearing a gap through the monster swarm and rushing into the room.
"Hold on, people inside! Don't give up! I'm here to save you!"
"Hmm?"
Leo, who was happily slaughtering, was stunned for a moment.
"Eh?"
Mikoto, who had just finished shouting, was also stunned for a moment.
After hacking down the Killer Ants blocking her way, she finally saw clearly inside the room.
However, it was different from the scene she had imagined of several rookie adventurers being besieged by monsters.
Appearing before her was an unfamiliar black-haired man, killing one Killer Ant per strike.
"Mikoto! We're here!"
Ouka's voice came from behind.
In the passage outside the room, Ouka led several members of the Take-Mikazuchi Familia as they followed closely and rushed into the room.
Leo: "..."
More people coming to steal experience.
Leo took a deep breath, his muscles suddenly tensed, and his aura surged.
{ Thunder Breathing, Sixth Form: Rumble and Flash! }
Blade trails like lightning flashed through the air, and the monsters besieging Leo were shredded in an instant.
After that, he turned into an afterimage and rushed forward, revealing the six sword forms of Thunder Breathing one after another.
In just a few minutes, the monster army filling the room was completely swept away by him.
Having done all this, Leo finally stopped his movements and looked at the awkward-looking Ouka and the others not far away.
"We're not here to steal the loot!"
Ouka immediately raised his hands to signal.
Not every adventurer was a good person.
There were also many bastards among adventurers who would kick someone when they were down.
At such a sensitive moment, it was important to state one's position.
"I still trust the character of the Take-Mikazuchi Familia." Leo sheathed his blade.
"Eh? You know us?"
A look of surprise appeared on Ouka's face.
As the center of the world, Orario had a large number of high-level adventurers.
Although the Take-Mikazuchi Familia had two Level 2 members, it was still essentially a small Familia.
Familias of this level were a dime a dozen in Orario; normally, only acquaintances would recognize them.
"I happened to hear rumors about you—a Familia established by a God of War from the Far East, where every member is an expert proficient in combat," Leo replied.
In fact, it wasn't by chance.
After arriving in this world, Leo had taken the time to brush up on many obscure details from the original story.
The pattern engraved on the equipment of Ouka and the others, as well as on the sword stuck in the ground, was precisely the emblem belonging to the Take-Mikazuchi Familia.
As one of the allied Familias in the original story, Leo had a very deep impression of the Take-Mikazuchi Familia.
Therefore, the moment he recognized Ouka and the others, a plan emerged in Leo's mind.
"I am Leo, the Captain of the Hestia Familia. Captain Ouka, you can just call me by my name."
...
After some exchange, Leo packed up the loot on the ground and began the return journey with Ouka and the others.
On the way, Ouka and Leo walked at the very front, chatting while clearing the path.
"Leo, did you take a quest to collect materials dropped by Killer Ants?"
"No."
"Eh? Then why did you gather so many Killer Ants together?" Ouka was somewhat puzzled.
As a Level 2 adventurer, he was naturally no stranger to the characteristics of Killer Ants.
After a brief moment of thought, he realized that Leo being besieged by so many monsters was no accident.
The other party had intentionally crippled several Killer Ants, using their trait of summoning allies to gather a large number of them together, resulting in the scene from before.
"I was training," Leo replied.
"Training?" Ouka was stunned for a moment.
"Yeah, and grinding some ability points along the way."
Facing a siege of hundreds of monsters simultaneously involved a certain degree of danger even for Leo.
Fighting monsters under such circumstances allowed for the maximum level of training and improvement of ability points.
"Lord Leo, forgive my presumption, but you wouldn't happen to be a Level 1, would you?"
Hearing their conversation, Mikoto, who was observing the surroundings, couldn't help but ask.
Lin Dong nodded: "I am Level 1."
"You're Level 1?!"
Ouka was instantly shocked.
As a Level 2 adventurer, he could see that Leo's equipment was extremely good, not something an ordinary Level 1 adventurer would have.
Combined with Leo's exaggerated performance, he had subconsciously assumed the other party was Level 2.
Similarly, this was why he was stunned when he heard Leo say he was training; after all, there was no reason for a normal Level 2 to use Killer Ants as training targets.
And yet you're telling me you're Level 1?
Recalling Leo's performance earlier—one man, one sword, handling hundreds of monsters with ease.
Ouka really wanted to shout a question right now.
This is a damn Level 1?!
"Truly amazing!"
Mikoto let out an exclamation of admiration.
Level 1 and Level 2 cannot be spoken of in the same breath.
She had thought that being able to solve dozens of monsters alone when she was Level 1 was already impressive enough.
But compared to Leo, she was still far behind.
"Despite being the same age, you possess such power. It seems Lord Leo must have put in a lot of hard work in his daily training."
"It's just a bit of wind and frost."
Leo stood with his hands behind his back, his expression indifferent.
I can achieve such success entirely because of my persistence and hard work!
What? You're asking where the sweat is?
It's on the enemy's head!