Chương 39: A Chance Meeting with Loki Familia

A white flash passed through the mist. The head of a three-meter-tall Infant Dragon, shaped like a massive Komodo lizard, slid cleanly to the ground. With a pop, the monster turned to ash, and a fist-sized Magic Stone dropped with a crisp sound.

"Is an Infant Dragon on the twelfth floor only this much? That is not much of a challenge." Cael looked around. Mist filled the area. The space was enormous. With the fog blocking the walls from view, he estimated it was at least the size of four or five soccer fields. Hard, withered trees grew everywhere across the ground. Any branch snapped from them could be used as a weapon. This was the Natural Arsenal, a special zone that appeared only on the tenth through twelfth floors.

It was also called the transition zone toward the Middle Floors. The Orcs here were all upper-tier Lv. 1 monsters with conservative Basic Ability values over 600. They also appeared in groups. Every now and then, a Lv. 2 Strengthened Species could appear. A Strengthened Species not only killed adventurers, but also killed its own kind and devoured their Magic Stones to grow stronger without limit. For lower-class adventurers on the Upper Floors, encountering a Strengthened Species was basically a death sentence.

"Mr. Cael is amazing. Kobolds, Killer Ants, Infant Dragons, no matter what it is, you kill it with one sword strike. You must already be a powerful adventurer above Lv. 2." Lili picked up the Magic Stone and clapped in admiration. So far, no monster had forced him to make a second attack. Only high-class adventurers could do that. Lili now understood Cael's strength more clearly. When she remembered how he had one-sidedly slaughtered countless monsters yesterday, she was certain he had to be at least Lv. 2.

Maybe even a second-class adventurer at Lv. 3.

"Haha. I am not Lv. 2 yet. Actually, this is only my third time entering the Dungeon. My luck is terrible, though. I ran into rampages both of the first two times and nearly died inside."

"What? This is only your third time in the Dungeon, Mr. Cael? No way." Lili's eyes widened, completely unable to believe him. A rookie adventurer? What kind of joke was that? No rookie adventurer was this strong. On the Upper Floors, not a single monster could block one of his attacks.

"I am not lying. Maybe this is the benefit of being gifted. I grow very quickly." Cael shrugged, lips curving with some pride. He might be the fastest-growing rookie in Orario's history. Even Loki Familia's Sword Princess, Ais, had taken a full year to become Lv. 2. He would definitely need less than a month. At that moment, heavy footsteps spread through the mist. One shadow after another appeared not far away. Because the fog blocked their vision, only rough outlines could be seen.

They were upright monsters at least three or four meters tall, with bodies so bulky they looked swollen. Some snapped dead tree branches to use as weapons, while others thundered toward them. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Orcs. The strongest upright monsters of the Upper Floors. They had immense strength, and their speed was not slow despite their heavy bodies. A five-person Lv. 1 party would fall into a hard fight against even one Orc.

Against more than two, they could only flee. Unfortunately, Orcs usually appeared in groups of at least three. Without enough strength and experience, lower-class adventurers did not dare go below the tenth floor.

"Mr. Cael, monsters are coming! Three on the right, two ahead, and three behind!" Lili shouted quickly, one small hand touching the Crozzo Magic Sword hidden under her clothes. She was extremely nervous. This was not her first time below the tenth floor, but she had come fewer than five times. Every time, the adventurer party she had accompanied had barely escaped without a decent harvest.

"Oh? Only that many? Lili, Supporters usually carry monster-luring incense, right? Use it and draw more monsters over." Cael twirled his sword without the slightest panic and spoke confidently.

"I do have some, but are you sure this is not a problem?" Lili hesitated. Monster-luring incense was usually used to draw monsters away. This was the twelfth floor, and the number, strength, and respawn speed of Orcs were nothing like the floors above. Even yesterday's battle, ridiculous as it looked, had involved lower and middle-tier Lv. 1 monsters. The gap between those and upper-tier Lv. 1 monsters was huge.

"Haha. No problem. Trust my strength." Cael laughed boldly.

"Th-then all right." Lili gritted her teeth, dug an incense packet out of her backpack, and lit it. The instant it caught flame, she regretted it. What am I doing? Why am I doing something this crazy?

"Here we go." Cael gripped his sword tightly, felt its breath, and charged toward the Orcs. On the eleventh floor of the Dungeon, a Loki Familia expedition was moving forward.

"I still wanted to play around for a few more days. I can't believe another expedition came so soon. I have no sense of time at all."

"That is because you played so much you forgot the date. If I had not stopped you, you would have missed this expedition."

"Tione, you were playing like crazy too."

"What? It was obviously Tiona." A pair of brown-skinned Amazon girls bickered with each other. Aside from their outfits and builds, they looked almost identical.

"Could you two quiet down a little? Can you not hear fighting up ahead?" said a long green-haired elf.

"Now that you mention it, I hear something."

"Isn't that normal? We have passed plenty of adventurer parties already."

"Sounds like a lot of them. A Monster Party? The Upper Floors have been going mad lately, causing us trouble like a nagging old woman. Tch." Bete's ears twitched as he clicked his tongue in disdain.

"Don't tell me we have to go rescue weaklings again. What a pain."

"Tione, Tiona, both of you calm down. Something is unusual." The blond Prum spoke.

"Yes, Captain." Tione immediately became obedient and lovestruck when Finn spoke.

"Sniff, sniff. This is monster-luring incense. Are some trash adventurers using it to ambush and kill rivals down here? Disgusting. Makes me want to take another route." Bete sniffed the air, frowned, pinched his nose, and spat on the ground in disgust. Things like that happened in the Dungeon all the time. Killing in Orario got people blacklisted, but inside the Dungeon, as long as the blame could be pushed onto monsters, murder could be done without restraint.

After all, people failed to return from the Dungeon every day.

"Truly disgusting. I do not want to meddle, but we should still take a look. Taking a detour would be troublesome." The dwarf in heavy armor spoke in a deep voice, a giant axe over his shoulder.

"Indeed. A detour would be troublesome, and it would consume strength. This is Lefiya's first time entering the Deep Floors with us. We should avoid wasting stamina where we can." Riveria nodded.

"I-I am fine." The elf girl spoke softly.

"Let's go see. If the situation calls for it, we can help on the way." Finn finished speaking and rushed forward.

"Move. Follow him." They passed through a cavern corridor, and their view opened suddenly. What entered their sight was a swarm of Orcs. There were more than thirty by rough estimate. A Monster Party. And the one facing those Orcs was a single person. This was not the murder ambush they had imagined. It was a one-sided slaughter. The one holding the butcher's blade was the boy surrounded by the Orcs. Everyone was shaken.

"It's that brat! You're kidding me, right?" Bete's eyes went round with disbelief, and even the line of his mouth twisted.