Dungeon exploration (3)

'Well, I can maybe defeat a peak level 5 monster...if I don't get one-shot by it,' Alex thought with a bitter smile.

Indeed, if he could draw the fight long enough for his body to adapt to his opponent's, then there was a chance of him defeating a monster even if this monster was much stronger than him.

However, monsters much stronger than him wouldn't allow the fight to drag on in the first place. Even if Alex could keep himself from being killed in the first seconds of the fight, he would need to engage in a physical fight against his opponent to adapt to his fighting style, which was foolish if he was too weak compared to his opponent.

All of this is when ignoring the glaring elephant in the room: Alex had absolutely no clue how this adaptability of his body functioned.

'I would rather not count on that until I know how this works,' Alex thought.

"It took you too long to eliminate this group," Amelia sighed as she appeared beside her brother, "let me fight with you. With the two of us, it won't take us too much time to clear this whole floor."

Alex glanced at his sister and grinned, "which kind of man would let his woman fight when he can take on the enemies all alone?"

Alex leaned and placed a tender kiss on her lips, "I won't let you, my wife, dirty your hands while I can just kill those small fries alone, beside..." Alex's expression shifted from the one of a loving husband to a cold one, "I feel that we will need your power soon, so it's better to let you rest."

Alex's expression shifted back to that of a loving man once again, "so let me do all the heavy lifting until then."

"Hey lovebirds," Maya, who was far behind the two, said in a mocking tone, "I don't want to interrupt you, but I'm pretty tired, so let's quickly clear this dungeon."

"I agree with you on that," Alex nodded before wrapping his arm around Amelia's waist and pulling her into his chest, "but I have to say, I'm pretty shocked to know that you discovered that the two of us were lovers."

"As if," Maya snorted as she drew near the two, "I know that you two are siblings. Don't take me for a clueless idiot."

Maya had just called them lovebirds to irk them, but seeing that her mocking didn't have any effect on them and Alex even seemed to joke about it, it got her annoyed.

If only at that time she had known that Alex wasn't joking or making fun of her.

Minutes later, they resumed their advances once again, dispatching every monster they encountered.

At some point, the group came to a halt.

"So, which path do we take?" Maya inquired as she glanced at Alex.

In front of the group, there were four separate paths leading in different directions.

Alex closed his eyes in concentration and extended his senses. While his senses didn't extend as far within the dungeon as they did outside, they still reached far enough this time to discern the true path.

"The leftmost path is the correct one; all the others are dead ends," he informed, striding towards the rightmost path.

"Then why are you going right?" Maya asked, her expression a mix of confusion and disbelief.

"To eliminate the lizardmen in the other paths," Alex replied.

"Why must you kill them? They aren't even on our..." Maya trailed off, her words unfinished.

Alex glanced back at her and grinned, "for the loot."

Just like that, the group traversed each of the paths, with Alex indiscriminately dispatching every lizardman they encountered.

Half an hour later, they finally reached the leftmost path. There, they encountered even more lizardmen than on the previous paths, but they all met the same fate: slaughtered by Alex.

Hours later, they successfully cleared the entire floor. Fortunately, instead of a staircase leading downward, they were greeted by a sizable wooden door adorned with golden engravings.

Seeing this door, both Alex and his companions felt an indescribable sense of relief washing over them. None of them had spoken about it, but it was clear from their reactions that all of them were feeling tense at the idea that there would be another floor.

"So, this is a fourth-grade dungeon," Amelia remarked.

"Apparently," Alex acknowledged, "we'll rest and eat, then challenge the boss afterwards," he added after a moment, his tone laced with determination.

"Mmm," Amelia nodded, and Maya nodded in understanding.

"Are you confident about taking on the boss?" Maya queried Alex during their meal.

"Confident or not, does it matter? We are going to be facing the boss either way," Alex replied. "But to answer your question, I'm going to say that I'm fifty percent certain of killing it alone. If Amelia is added to the mix, then there is a ninety-nine percent chance of winning," he added an instant later.

"Ninety-nine percent?" Maya pondered. "Why not just say one hundred percent?"

"That one percent you see is in case something goes to shit," Alex explained, "don't forget kiddo, there's always a chance for all your plans and preparation to fail. Never forget that."

Maya nodded in understanding.

"Good," Alex acknowledged before turning to Amelia. "So, how shall we proceed?"

As the siblings began strategizing, considering various scenarios, Maya slipped away from their camp and retrieved a lightweight sword.

'Oh, is it time?' Alex wondered, watching her discreetly.

Maya firmly held the lightweight sword, her face displaying determination and focus. She assumed a straight posture and swung the sword. Well, she was supposed to swing it, but instead, her left knee buckled, causing her to lose her balance and fall.

"Pfft," Alex, who was observing her, abruptly burst into laughter at the sight of the young heiress falling face-first. "Finally, I was beginning to think I wouldn't see this scene today," he exclaimed aloud.

For some reason, the day after they departed from the Night base, Maya began to train in swordsmanship. However, much like what just happened, each time she attempted to swing the sword, she ended up either tripping, accidentally cutting herself, or even worse, stab herself!

She had nearly killed herself one time, fortunately Amelia was there.

At some point, observing the young heiress train became one of Alex's favorite moments of the day. That's because he was never bored when watching her.

"Stop making fun of her at last, you will end up making the poor girl give up," Amelia chastised with a stern expression.

"It's not my intention to make fun of her," Alex admitted sincerely. "I just can't control myself. I genuinely struggle to understand how someone can be so clumsy," Alex added with a hint of confusion.

Standing up, he approached Maya, who was rubbing her face with a dark expression, and said with a smirk, "you suck with a sword."

Maya glared at him and retorted, "Thanks for reminding me for the hundredth time."

"You're welcome," Alex grinned. "Seriously though, you might want to consider training with something other than the sword. It's clearly not suited for you."

Alex wasn't a weapon master, but even he knew how to distinguish between someone who had talent with a weapon and someone who didn't, and it was clear to him that Maya had absolutely no talent for the sword.

"Well, I need to know how to defend myself, and this is the only wa—" Maya suddenly stopped mid-sentence, her expression brightening.

"You're really good at hand-to-hand combat. Can you teach me?" She asked Alex, her eyes shining with anticipation.

Until a few hours ago, Maya thought Alex could only fight using his smoke element. She knew many people relied solely on their elemental abilities and never learned to fight without them. It also didn't help that Alex always solved everything using his smoke.

However, remembering how he killed the lizardmen with his bare hands, Maya understood that Alex was a master at hand-to-hand combat.

"Yeah, instead of always teasing her, you should teach her," Amelia said, appearing beside Alex.

"Um, no," Alex denied, "that's impossi-"

Amelia linked her arms with Alex, pressing her body close to his, and spoke in a seductive tone, "I'm the one asking, brother."

'Ugh, she is so damn sexy,' Alex thought, his eyes fixated on Amelia's chest pressed against him. The warmth of her body against his sending shivers down his spine.

Summoning his willpower, Alex gritted his teeth and uttered, "why don't you train her yourself, you are-"

"You are more experienced than me," Amelia retorted as she pushed her breasts further against him, her touch sending waves of desire coursing through his veins. "You are not going to refuse me, right?" Her voice was a seductive whisper, laced with promise.

She leaned in closer, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered with her bewitching voice, "if you accept, I will be giving you a reward later today~"