Chapter 7: Encountering the Halfling Supporter

Underground Dungeon, First Floor.

"Yalalala... Will someone like me invite divine retribution?"

Playing with the short sword engraved with the symbol of "Ηφαιστος," Qi Shaoyun whispered to himself in a low voice.

From the moment he stepped into the blacksmith shop, he had been in full performance mode, using invisible pity to make the Hephaestus clan blacksmith feel compassionate towards him.

Then, unintentionally revealing that he had been to the underground dungeon, making the other party think of him as a rare talent.

Later, he adopted the demeanor of an anime protagonist, making the blacksmith perceive him as a person of kind and innocent nature.

The ultimate goal of all this was to obtain an internal recommendation from the Hephaestus clan and help him join the clan.

Who would have thought that despite all his calculations, the blacksmith would give him a self-defense short sword as he was about to leave.

This made Qi Shaoyun feel ashamed.

Deceiving such a kind person, he didn't know if it would invite divine punishment. Perhaps he would repay the favor once he joined the clan.

Putting the short sword into his quiver, Qi Shaoyun took off the Kirin Bow strapped to his back and cautiously walked through the labyrinthine passages.

The first to twelfth floors of the underground dungeon, known as the upper levels in Eulalia, were suitable for Lv1 and Lv2 novice adventurer teams.

Levels 2 to 5 mainly consist of low-level monsters such as goblins, gnomes, and underground lizards.

Yesterday, Qi Shaoyun was on the 3rd floor of the labyrinth, which was relatively safe, and fortunately, he didn't encounter any large underground lizards.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The sound of a crumbling stone wall suddenly echoed. Qi Shaoyun skillfully drew an arrow from his quiver, swiftly nocked it, pulled the bowstring, and aimed in one smooth motion.

"Swoosh!"

The arrow sliced through the air, piercing the goblin's eye socket at the ten o'clock position, effortlessly killing it with a single strike.

He approached and picked up the dropped magic crystal, putting it in his pocket, before retrieving the fallen arrow from the ground.

With his current strength of 6 points, combined with master-level archery and the experience gained from killing goblins yesterday, it was not difficult for Qi Shaoyun to quickly dispatch one or two goblins. Only when facing five or more goblins simultaneously would he resort to kiting tactics.

At this rate, as long as nothing unexpected happened, it shouldn't be a problem for him to kill around a hundred goblins today.

The income from a day's work would earn him nearly a week's worth of basic living expenses. It had to be said that being an adventurer was truly a high-paying profession.

However, when it comes to the level 5 dungeon, the cost of equipment maintenance seems to be around tens of millions of units.

Adventurers... it seems like they really burn through money.

But this only further strengthens Qi Shaoyun determination to join the Hephaestus Clan.

Dungeon, 3rd floor.

"Poof!" The short sword pierced through the last goblin's body, and the creature hanging on Qi Shaoyun back turned into a pile of black ash, dissipating.

Without immediately picking up the dropped mana crystals, he took out a roll of bandages from the bottom of his arrow pouch and started to slowly wrap the wounds on his body.

After treating the relatively severe wounds, Qi Shaoyun bent down to pick up the mana crystals on the ground. After searching for about two minutes, he managed to gather all six crystals.

Glancing at the approximately thirty mana crystals in his arrow pouch, Qi Shaoyun estimated that it was already around noon. He casually found a spot near a crossroad and sat down.

He took out a small bundle from his arrow pouch, which contained six slightly deformed potato bombs. These were the lunch that Qi Shaoyun had prepared for himself.

Although they were not particularly good, the advantage was that there was a large quantity, enough to fill one's stomach.

Qi Shaoyun, born in a rural area, didn't have many requirements.

He wiped his hands on his clothes and picked up one of the potato bombs, sitting on the ground in an unrefined manner as he ate with gusto.

After eating four potato bombs in a row, just as he was about to reach for the fifth one, he faintly heard a voice cursing.

"You useless waste!"

"You've only made such a small harvest this entire morning. Were you dozing off somewhere?"

"Waste! Waste! Waste!"

Feeling that the cursing voice wasn't too far away, Qi Shaoyun put the potato bombs back into the bundle and stuffed it into his arrow pouch as he reached for his Qilin Bow leaning against the side. He cautiously headed in the direction where the voice was coming from.

After walking through a twenty-meter-long stone passage, Qi Shaoyun discovered that the source of the voice was at the corner on the left side.

He leaned against the stone wall and quietly eavesdropped for a while before slowly peering around the corner.

There were seven male adventurers, dressed in adventurer attire, currently punching and kicking a supporter who was lying on the ground, making it difficult to determine their gender. The supporter carried a huge package on their back.

By observing the equipment on these adventurers, Qi Shaoyun could roughly gauge that their levels were not high, probably around Lv1 to Lv2 at best. Otherwise, they wouldn't be engaged in such petty activities on the upper levels.

Silently retracting his head, Qi Shaoyun had no intention of intervening. With his current limited strength, making a scene would only put himself in danger. After the experience from yesterday, Qi Shaoyun became more cautious and careful in his actions.

He quietly and lightly retreated to the distance of another corridor, avoiding a direct encounter with the adventurers. He waited until their footsteps faded away before returning to the corner.

Peeking cautiously, even the supporter with the exaggerated package had stood up from the ground and was dusting off the dirt. Judging by their proficient movements and their silence, it was evident that they were the frequent target of bullying by the group of adventurers.

Under Qi Shaoyun gaze, the supporter removed the hood from their head, revealing a pair of burgundy upright ears. When Qi Shaoyun saw the person's face clearly, his pupils contracted.

Because he recognized the canine girl in front of him, more precisely, the halfling girl - Lilliruka Arde.

This girl was none other than one of the main characters of DanMachi, Bell's exclusive supporter!

That means the adventurers from earlier belonged to the Soma Familia.

It's a good thing he didn't take the initiative to intervene just now. Knowing the despicable nature of that Soma Familia member, upon seeing his shabby appearance, who knows if they would have had the thought to kill him and take his belongings.

It's really unexpected... to encounter another early-stage plot character so quickly.

With these thoughts in mind, Qi Shaoyun couldn't help but glance at Lilliruka Arde, only to witness a slight tremor in the canine ears on top of the girl's head.

Not good!

A sense of danger surged in his heart, and Qi Shaoyun quickly retracted his head.

Then...

In the next moment, a "whoosh" sound was heard as a slender sleeve arrow pierced into the opposite stone wall.

"Who's there!"

Hearing the highly vigilant questioning voice from the other end of the corner, Qi Shaoyun wasn't going to act like a fool in a TV drama and walk out with his hands raised after being discovered.

He was well aware of Lilliruka Arde personality. As long as he dared to show even half of his head, he would undoubtedly be greeted with a second sleeve arrow.

Furthermore, there might even be a magical sword attack!

Don't underestimate this Level 1 halfling supporter. Qi Shaoyun was well aware that she possessed a powerful magical sword capable of injuring Level 4 adventurers.

He didn't believe that he could dodge or withstand the attack unleashed by the magical sword.

However, they couldn't remain in this standoff indefinitely. Calmly, he spoke up, "Just passing by, no intention to offend."

After saying that, he immediately turned around without hesitation and fled into the distance.