The Calm Before the Storm

The battle ended quickly.

In the midst of the storm of slashes, not a single monster survived, all turning into a scattered mess of limbs and debris, leaving Riezel victorious.

"What happened?"

Returning with his slender sword in hand, Riezel was puzzled as he saw Lefiya standing there with a blank expression.

"No-Nothing!" Lefiya snapped back to reality, shaking her head while hesitating as she looked at him.

"Just say what you want to say."

Seeing her hesitation, Riezel spoke up.

"T-That..." Lefiya stuttered for a moment. "Do you know Miss Ais?"

Clearly, witnessing his fighting style so similar to Ais's, Lefiya began to doubt their relationship. She even recalled that not long ago, when she and the others returned from the expedition, Ais seemed to have noticed the newly joined Riezel and was quite attentive to him.

This unavoidably made Lefiya think too much, and her gaze towards Riezel changed.

In response to her question, Riezel raised an eyebrow while smiling faintly.

"Are you that concerned about my relationship with Miss Ais?"

Without hesitation, Lefiya nodded, then quickly shook her head afterward.

"I-I'm just a bit curious!"

Her face turned inexplicably red, with a guilty look.

Seeing her funny reaction, Riezel chuckled and answered her question.

"I consulted her about magic and coincidentally learned some of her swordsmanship. Apart from that, there's nothing else between us."

Instead of calming Lefiya, his explanation left her stunned.

"Consulted about magic?" Lefiya looked perplexed.

"Yeah." Riezel nodded. "I have magic with a nature similar to your 'Elf Ring'."

"Oh..." Lefiya instantly understood. But precisely because she understood, she became even more astonished.

"Does Mr. Riezel have the same magic as me?" Lefiya was extremely surprised.

"Well, somewhat similar." Riezel didn't elaborate much and simply agreed with her.

'Does that mean... He learned Miss Ais's magic...?' Lefiya muttered quietly inside her heart.

Her first thought wasn't about getting closer to him, who had the same type of magic as her, but rather, an instinctive urge to shout.

'So envious!'

Without warning, she looked at him with eyes filled with envy, almost as if there was a great divide between them.

'Why isn't Miss Ais an Elf?'

Lefiya couldn't help but puff her cheeks as she thought about her magic, which was restricted to learning only from the same race.

"Okay, let's keep moving." Riezel chuckled awkwardly, quickly changing the topic and turning to leave.

"Wait a moment!" Lefiya hurriedly stopped him. "We haven't collected the magic stones yet!"

After saying that, she jogged over to the corpses of War Shadows that Riezel had just defeated. She took out a knife she carried with her, digging out a small crystal from the chest area of one of the War Shadows.

That crystal was a magic stone, a crystallization of magical energy obtained from a dungeon monster's body. It could be used to create various incredible magic stone products, such as the magic stone lamps in Twilight Manor's courtyard.

Due to the Guild's monopoly on dungeon resources, they managed the purchase of these stones, processing them into products, and shipping them to other countries for big profits.

Adventurers actively explored the dungeon to exchange the magic stones they obtained from monsters for money with the Guild.

It was said that the stronger the monster, the larger and more valuable the magic stone in its body. In comparison, magic stones from the 6th Floor wouldn't fetch much, perhaps not even a thousand valis.

Nevertheless, money was money.

Lefiya enthusiastically dug out more magic stones, causing the monster corpses, now devoid of magic stones as their cores, to rapidly lose color and turn into dust.

This was the fate of monsters without cores. Their corpses couldn't even be preserved, as if they never existed in the first place.

Occasionally, only some particularly developed parts could be left behind, called drop items. These could be used as materials for weapons, armor, and potions, exchanged for money with the Guild, or sold to merchants in need.

Besides magic stones and drop items, the dungeon also contained special minerals, plants, and natural products with unique properties. Adventurers sought these as treasures and hoped for wealth, especially for some exceptionally precious and rare items that could fetch a fortune on the market.

In essence, most adventurers entered the dungeon for this purpose—to strike it rich overnight. Familias like Loki Familia considered these resources crucial for their operations.

The dungeon was indeed an incredible place, both magical and dangerous.

Watching Lefiya collect the magic stones and toss them into her large backpack, Riezel rubbed his nose.

He dared not tell her that he had never bothered to collect any magic stones or drop items in the dungeon before. The former great young master, who couldn't wait to rush into the dungeon and slaughter everything in his path, had never developed the habit of managing resources properly.

"Can I say I completely forgot about this?"

Riezel couldn't help but say that as he saw Lefiya so energetically collecting magic stones to the large backpack swaying behind her.

"Or maybe I can carry the backpack for you?"

Upon hearing his suggestion, Lefiya decisively shook her head in refusal.

"Mr. Riezel is the vanguard and even takes on the role of the mid-guard. Your responsibility is to charge forward and defeat monsters. How can you fight while carrying such a big backpack?" Lefiya said with an earnest expression. "In the dungeon, if there isn't a dedicated supporter to accompany us, it's common for the rearguard to take on the role of a supporter. You just have to be vigilant."

She referred to a supporter as someone who specialized in recovering and storing magic stones and drop items.

These people were typically not strong combatants, their purpose was to free adventurers' hands and bodies, preventing them from fighting with heavy backpacks or items.

In Orario, some less powerful people specialize as supporters and take on employment from adventurers. In larger Familias with generally strong adventurers, supporters were often temporarily filled by lower-level juniors or rearguards.

Lefiya was a rearguard and obviously had no intention of handing over the supporter's job to Riezel.

"But your level is higher than mine..." Riezel emphasized.

"But I don't need to charge into the fray, so it's fine." Lefiya asserted firmly. "On the contrary, a vanguard like you absolutely cannot add too much weight to the body. No need to worry."

As for whether it was appropriate for a girl to run around with such a large backpack, Lefiya didn't even bring it up.

Even as a pure rearguard mage with limited close combat ability and lower physical endurance, she was still a bona fide Level 3 second-class adventurer. Carrying a backpack was easily manageable for her.

"Fine..."

Seeing her stubborn attitude, Riezel had to give up.

If not for the awkward issue of how to explain, he would have suggested putting the backpack in the Dimensional Magic Cube's storage space.

With the existence of storage space, he didn't need to worry about the weight problem.

Unfortunately, he couldn't say that, so he could only watch her diligently retrieve every magic stone and continue to carry the large backpack.

"Done!"

After a while, Lefiya finally ran back.

"Let's go." Riezel nodded, turned, and walked away.

"W-Wait for me!"

She hurriedly caught up, temporarily setting aside another question in her mind. But this question lingered throughout the day in her heart.

'Even though he's a rookie who recently received a blessing, why is he so powerful?'

Staring at his figure speeding up and charging into the group of monsters ahead without fear nor hesitation, this question persisted in her heart.

===

Amid Riezel and Lefiya boldly pushing forward as a newly formed party, little did they know that right after they left, an anomaly erupted in the very place they had just departed from.

*Crack—*

It started as a faint cracking sound.

On the dungeon walls, a crack appeared without any warning, emitting a subtle gleam from within.

*Ba-dump! Ba-dump!*

A heartbeat seemed to echo within, growing louder with each passing moment.

This spectacle wasn't uncommon in the dungeon. Any adventurer had encountered this phenomenon more or less. Because this was the sign of a monster about to be born.

Indeed, monsters in the dungeon were birthed this way.

They didn't exist as life in the dungeon from the start; rather, they incubated and hatched within the dungeon.

Just like birds breaking out of their shells, monsters would emerge from the dungeon walls at regular intervals, ensuring an endless supply and an unchanging number of monsters in the dungeon.

This explained why the types of monsters encountered on each floor were typically fixed.

Each species had a designated birthplace and rarely ventured to other floors unless something unexpected occurred.

Of course, exceptions existed.

And now, this exception was unfolding on the 6th Floor.

This was the so-called anomaly.

*Crackle—!*

Amidst the grating cracking sounds, the dungeon walls were giving way, allowing a massive figure to emerge from within.

*ROAAAAAARRR—!!!*

Before long, an ear-splitting roar reverberated through the floor, causing it to tremble slightly as if offering a blessing for its emergence.