Chương 25: A Commander Feeds His Troops

"Sorry. I don't have much strength left right now, so all I can do is watch you collect the Magic Stones." Cael looked apologetically at Lili as she obediently bent over to pick up the stones. Without caring about the disgusting remains the monsters had left behind, he sat down on the ground. After swinging his sword and cutting down monsters for two hours straight, his arms had already started to lose strength. On top of that, the big attack just now had drained all his Magic, leaving his mind a little dull.

Then a cool sensation spread through his soul, sharp and refreshing. Cael's spirits lifted at once. This feeling. Another Skill had finished manifesting. At the moment, the only Skills still manifesting were Transparent World and Sword Saint's Blessing. Sword Saint's Blessing was the second strongest Skill among all his Skills, surpassed only by Unlimited Blade Works. It could cut what swords normally could not. In other words, anything a sword could not cut would become something he could kill.

It also allowed him to draw out the full power of any sword-type weapon, whether that sword had an owner or not, and pushed his talent with swords to its absolute limit. Cael closed his eyes to check which Skill had manifested. Unfortunately, it was not Sword Saint's Blessing. It was the final leaf, Transparent World. Transparent World came from Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the strongest demon-slaying swordsman.

It was a domain reached only after emptying the mind, pushing oneself to the limit, and enduring pain with everything one had. It represented the highest realm of perception. After reaching that realm, one could see through a living creature's body, muscles, nerves, blood flow, bioelectrical reactions, and more. By perceiving the body directly, one could locate weak points. Because perception itself accelerated, an enemy's movements would also appear slower.

The instant he received the ability, Cael's mind became clear and empty. It felt as if he had entered another world. Everything around him became quiet and sharply defined. Even with his eyes closed, he could see the small figure working in front of him. Muscles, bones, blood flow, all of it came into his perception. Through those details, he could predict her next movements. Her actions even seemed extremely slow.

It was similar to the instant Starburst Stream activated, except without the explosive increase in strength. Lili, who had been collecting Magic Stones with her head down, glanced up at Cael resting with his eyes closed. Her lips twitched, but her voice remained obedient.

"Of course, Mister Adventurer. As a supporter, Lili is here to manage Drop Items for you. Lili should be the one doing these things. Your rest is the most important part."

"Then I will shamelessly take a break." Cael opened his eyes as he spoke, amused inside. She was probably cursing him right now. Still, her act was pretty cute. As the Magic Stones were picked up, the limbs and fluids left by the slain monsters gradually disappeared, and the cavern returned to its original state. Even the damaged walls repaired themselves. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Mister Adventurer, Lili collected everything. There are so many Magic Stones. This is amazing." Lili set down a backpack twice her size, now filled entirely with Magic Stones, and clapped her hands with a surprised expression. This time, she really was surprised. For a five-person party of Lv. 1 adventurers, earning thirty thousand valis in a day was already impressive. This many Magic Stones had to be worth at least fifty thousand valis. That was incredible.

Of course, while collecting them, she had secretly slipped a few into the hidden lining of her backpack. He definitely would not pay her anyway. So she would take her share herself.

"The real money comes from the Deep Floors. A horn dropped by a Lv. 5 unicorn is worth ten million valis." Cael smiled without much concern and took potato puffs from his small bag.

"After fighting in a place this tense, my stomach started complaining a long time ago. Here. My goddess made these by hand, and she gave me plenty so I wouldn't go hungry." Thinking of how Hestia had insisted on stuffing all the potato puffs into his bag that morning, a warm smile touched Cael's lips. He handed two of them to Lili.

"Eh?" Lili froze.

"Why are you staring? A commander doesn't send hungry troops to work. You need a full stomach if you want strength." Cael smiled at the stunned Lili. She probably had not expected an adventurer to treat her kindly. Since she could remember, no adventurer had ever treated her with kindness. Of course it felt unbelievable when one suddenly did.

"Oh. Thank you very much, Mister Adventurer." Lili accepted the potato puffs and lowered her head, speaking softly.

"Just call me Mister Cael." Cael bit into a potato puff and reached out to rub Lili's head. The two dog ears under her hood twitched.

"Chienthrope?"

"Yes. Lili is a young Chienthrope, Mister Cael. Uu..." Lili lowered her head, pretended to blush, and made a shy little sound. Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief, and a faint smile slipped onto her lips. Good thing she had used transformation Magic beforehand. Also, he was covered in monster blood, and now some of it had gotten on her head. Disgusting.

"Oh?" Cael looked at Lili's obviously acted shyness and felt a bit of mischief rise in him. It was the kind of feeling where he knew perfectly well she was pretending, but that only made him want to watch her continue pretending.

"Ahem. We'll rest a little longer, then leave the Dungeon. After that, we'll exchange the Magic Stones for money and find a tavern. I'll buy Lili a drink."

"All right, Mister Cael." Lili answered in a sweet, obedient voice. Once they got out, he definitely would not give her a sixty-forty split. He would surely find some reason to deduct her share. That was how adventurers always did things. After all, she was alone and weak. She was easy to bully, and even if she was bullied, no one would stand up for her. Fourteen hours had passed by the time they reached the spiral staircase leading back to the surface.

"The sky is completely dark." Cael stretched as he walked. In truth, even a monster rampage on the Upper Floors would not cause much trouble. The Upper Floors had the highest number of adventurers, and this time, upper-class adventurers had quickly cleared most of the monsters. There had been almost no casualties. Except for those five unlucky adventurers. They had only themselves to blame for stumbling into his area. His position had been the most dangerous one.

Cael looked around the entire spiral stone staircase. People filled the way up. Some were injured, some wore smiles, and some had cold, gloomy faces. Almost all of them carried packed bags. From the look of it, everyone had harvested quite a bit.

"Ah. Finally out." Cael raised his head toward the moonlit sky and drew in a deep breath of fresh air.

"Are we going to exchange these for valis next, Mister Cael?" Lili followed behind him with the backpack on her shoulders. Her tone carried a trace of excitement, as if she were looking forward to receiving her share. Cael suspected that was probably an act too. She was testing his reaction.

"Of course. I can't wait to turn these into money." Cael smiled faintly. Once he had enough teammates to go to the Middle Floors, his earning speed would increase dramatically. Hundreds of thousands of valis would no longer be difficult. Of course, his spending would also increase just as dramatically. A single third-tier dagger cost at least tens of thousands of valis. Before entering the Middle Floors, he would also have to prepare healing items, Mind recovery potions, and stamina recovery potions.

Going without them would be slow suicide. The monsters in the Middle Floors spawned much faster. Special monsters appeared there, along with ranged attackers and terrain that could change at any moment. Their strength was also around Lv. 2, and every now and then, a Strengthened Species around Lv. 3 could appear. Under those circumstances, both mind and body would be pushed under unimaginable pressure. Clearing the Middle Floors alone was impossible unless one was a first-tier adventurer of Lv. 5 or higher.

Which meant Cael needed more than strength before he could take the next step.