Deeper Exploration

Chapter 10 - Deeper Exploration

Torajirou Shiro continued to delve deeper, following the map provided by the guild.

The monsters he encountered along the way were so weak that he couldn't even take them seriously.

The monsters from the 1st to the 5th floors were almost all goblins and dungeon lizards.

In Shiro's view, the goblins were as cumbersome as an adult swinging a wooden stick—no, an adult would at least think about which attacks might be effective and know when to retreat, whereas these goblins were simply marching to their deaths.

The dungeon lizards were even simpler; although they were more concealed than the goblins, often hanging over the ceiling, they had a fatal flaw: insufficient attack power.

Even if Torajirou Shiro stood still and let them attack, they would not be able to break through his magic defense; at most, they made him feel as if something had bumped into him, reducing them to mere tools for training his endurance stats.

Torajirou Shiro's routine before reaching the 6th floor was a simple cycle: see a goblin → kill it with one strike → encounter a dungeon lizard → intentionally let it hit him a couple of times → kill it with another strike.

It felt like a level 100 character entering a novice village; these trivial foes didn't even necessitate evasion.

If it weren't for improving his ability values and the presence of more challenging monsters below, Torajirou Shiro would have left long ago.

Upon reaching the 6th floor, Torajirou Shiro finally encountered a monster that sparked his interest.

It appeared as a 'shadow', a completely black humanoid monster, about 1.6 meters tall, with a cross-shaped face embedded with pure circular components, and slender wrists adorned with three extremely sharp claws.

This was a monster labeled as a "War Shadow" in the guild's manual, with a specific warning that newcomers should flee upon encounter.

The presence and intimidating aura of War Shadows were a significant step up from the weak goblins and dungeon lizards of the upper floors.

If goblins and dungeon lizards were considered mere cannon fodder, then these War Shadows were definitely elite monsters.

When Torajirou Shiro saw the first War Shadow, others gradually started to materialize behind him.

For a novice adventurer, this situation was nearly a dead end.

These 'newbie killer' monsters, responsible for the downfall of countless new adventurers, now surrounded Torajirou Shiro.

Normally, a newbie's reaction would be to either fight desperately in one direction or scream for help.

However, Torajirou Shiro just calmly watched them block his escape route, even taking the time to criticize the dungeon.

"Ha, is this the malice of the dungeon? A place that targets adventurers is more than just a building, right? It seems more like an outside god. Humph! I'll tear you down sooner or later."

As he spoke, one of the War Shadows lunged at him.

Torajirou Shiro simply sidestepped the attack and, with a spin kick, sent the War Shadow crashing into another, tangling them together.

This action seemed to signal the start of the battle, as the remaining dozen or so War Shadows charged at him.

The scene didn't frighten Torajirou Shiro; it only excited him.

"Heh! This is more like it! This is what an adventurer should look like."

As he spoke, his blade fell, and a War Shadow was defeated.

He then used Nukiashi to 'slide' behind another, avoiding a sneak attack from behind.

Any other adventurer would have been sweating for Torajirou Shiro, as countless times the War Shadows attacked from his blind spots.

But Torajirou Shiro, as if having eyes on the back of his head, would calmly dispatch the monsters in front of him before smoothly dodging and counterattacking those behind.

When Torajirou Shiro had just learned Nukiashi, he had contemplated how to deal with unseen attacks.

Even though he might not need it, he always prepared for the possibility of sneak attacks.

Thus, he asked Torajirou Nangou to attack him continuously using Nukiashi.

Initially, he struggled greatly to react and dodge.

After some time, Torajirou Shiro realized that he could predict Torajirou Nangou's next move.

Details like the muscle changes during "Nukiashi", shifts in the surrounding wind, and his opponent's attack patterns were crucial clues.

This allowed him to successfully dodge an attack for the first time.

However, he quickly realized that this level of prediction was not enough.

When the opponent is inherently stronger, even if you react in time, your body may not be able to keep up.

From that moment, Torajirou Shiro relentlessly analyzed everything during battle – the wind, his opponents' eyes, the origins of their techniques, their attack patterns – managing all this information to achieve a kind of future sight.

This allowed him to 'see' his opponents' next moves one or two seconds in advance.

Since he couldn't see, he didn't need to look; since he couldn't hear, he didn't need to listen.

What mattered was knowing when and how the opponent would attack.

It didn't matter whether they were running or jumping; he was only concerned with their actions at the moment of attack.

This was Torajirou Shiro's self-developed ability, allowing him to anticipate an opponent's attack moments before it happened, which he named "Mind's Eye."

In the dim dungeon, a spectacle unfolded: a white-haired youth surrounded by monsters, performing a graceful sword dance.

Despite the onslaught, not a single monster could touch the hair of the young man.

As time passed, the last War Shadow fell down.

Torajirou Shiro did not rush to collect the magic stones but stood still to recuperate his spent energy.

He took out a stamina potion he had bought from the shop before from his Gift card and swallowed it, feeling his strength return.

Clenching his fists, Torajirou Shiro felt the undeniable truth.

"I've become stronger..."

That's right, Torajirou Shiro felt that he had indeed become stronger.

Although it wasn't by much. Fighting the swarm of monsters constantly drained his stamina, so he hadn't noticed before.

Now that his stamina had recovered, the changes in his body were not going to escape his perception.

"But it's not enough."

Simply improving at this pace was not to his satisfaction.

He stored the magic stones from the War Shadows in his Gift card and continued towards the deeper floors.

…

Time passed, and Torajirou Shiro fought his way down to the 10th floor.

For the first time, the dungeon's environment changed from this point onwards.

Apart from the floor entrance, the rest was shrouded in a thick, white fog, with frost on the ground that obscured vision.

The monsters had also changed; a new creature called an imp appeared, clearly more intelligent than goblins.

Previously, upon seeing Torajirou Shiro, they would let another type of monster, an Orc, charge ahead to drain his stamina before swarming him when he took out a potion.

"Enough already!" Torajirou Shiro was irritated by these nuisances.

Though these creatures were weak in combat, they kept pestering him like mosquitoes in summer, buzzing annoyingly around your ear but impossible to catch because they kept flying around.

Fortunately, the imps were not as agile as mosquitoes and couldn't fly.

Torajirou Shiro parried an Orc's attack and charged straight at the imps.

Initially, the imps tried to flee, but once one was beheaded by his attack, they realized escape was futile and started coordinating attacks with the nearby Orcs.

"Just in time, I'll use you bastards to test my newly developed ability."

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