"You should be more concerned about your own safety."
Liliruca couldn't help but think of her own situation. She wanted to leave the Dungeon purely out of fear—fear of trouble from the adventurer she had just partied with.
She knew all too well what would happen if he found her after losing his weapon during battle. Even if she used her Cinder Ella magic again in the Dungeon to transform into a supporter of similar build, it would still be easy to recognize her.
What's more, Lili could faintly detect something deeper in Liang Yue's words—something that felt like he had seen right through her past deeds.
Especially with that calm, unshaken demeanor… it stung at the sensitive, self-loathing part of her heart.
She had already been ready to head back to Orario, but, almost against her will, her steps halted.
When she turned back, her smile was tinged with self-mockery.
Out of nowhere, she asked in an almost careless tone, "If you were stuck in a muddy swamp, what would you do?"
"…."
If Lili's plight hadn't involved harming other innocent adventurers, Liang Yue might have felt some sympathy for her.
Even if this exact scenario hadn't yet happened in the current timeline, his impression of her was already fixed.
He wasn't interested in testing human nature. Faced with her sudden question, he thought for only a moment before answering directly, "Save myself."
"And if everyone around you only wanted to exploit and bully you?"
"Simple."
Even as the words left his mouth, Liang Yue already knew what she was implying—leaving the muddy swamp known as the Soma Familia.
"A gentleman does not stand beneath a dangerous wall."
And he had never claimed to be a gentleman, so helping her was out of the question. Offering a few suggestions for self-rescue, though, was another matter.
With a relaxed but serious smile, he said, "First, I'd try reasoning. If reasoning doesn't work, then I'd try physics."
"Of course, there's also the option of… understanding how poison works."
"…."
But no matter what, it would never involve harming those who had shown him kindness.
——
The brief moment of tension passed, and Liang Yue watched her silhouette disappear into the distance.
The advice he'd given was, of course, from his own perspective—if you couldn't win through sheer strength, then take the indirect route.
Now that the story had already deviated from the original, whether Bell, as a member of Freya Familia, would still choose to save Lili was uncertain.
Rather than dwelling on irrelevant side plots, Liang Yue was far more interested in how to raise his own strength quickly.
His gaze returned to the crippled Killer Ant before him.
He'd been waiting for some time now, but no new swarms had appeared. It seemed exploiting the Dungeon's "bug" wouldn't work here after all.
Perhaps the Killer Ant's call for reinforcements was limited only to its own colony?
"Looks like I'll have to keep searching."
"…."
He decided quickly. Today's exploration had just begun, and with his Endurance stat improved, fighting ant swarms consumed far less stamina than before.
Even during battle breaks, he could feel his recovery speed had increased.
Which meant he could push on and aim to reach Level 18 in one go.
——
Always cautious of unknown dangers, he resumed exploring the floor.
Thanks to his constant battles in recent days, his technique had sharpened and he had learned the weaknesses of various Dungeon monsters.
Every encounter was handled in the simplest way possible.
Though using skills would speed up the clears, Liang Yue didn't see the need to squeeze out that little extra efficiency—it would only waste stamina and shorten his operational time.
Besides, after switching to sharper weapons, the sword aura attached to his Inner Oni Swordsmanship had grown noticeably stronger.
Even a casual sword aura slash could tear through monsters with ease.
Lone hunters like Underground Lizards or Shadow Warriors weren't his main targets, but if he ran into them, he wouldn't pass them up either.
The main source of EXP still came from Killer Ants—especially since they called for reinforcements when threatened.
A small swarm had over twenty individuals; larger ones could have double that.
As time passed, Liang Yue lost count of how many swarms he had wiped out.
The good news—
His level had risen significantly.
"…."
"Feels like I'm almost there."
After clearing the last few ants in the area, hunger from constant exertion began to gnaw at him.
He decided to take a break, pulling out the bento Syr had given him.
While eating, he opened his Sword Soul template to check the progress.
——
[Liang Yue]
Level: 17
EXP: 43.7%
Skills: Inner Oni Swordsmanship (Mastery), Triple Slash (+), Moonlight Slash (+), Backstep Slash (+)
SP: 130
——
He had reached Level 17, close to today's goal, and the EXP bar was nearly halfway full.
But what caught his attention were the plus signs behind his active skills—just like when he had mastered Inner Oni Swordsmanship, he could now spend SP to level them up.
Exactly as he'd expected—each level-up granted skill points, and without the ability to allocate them, the SP system would be pointless.
"Skill upgrades… what exactly will they do?"
If it worked like in the game, leveling skills would boost damage and reduce cooldowns. But in Danmachi's world?
That, he was curious about.
——
[Spend 20 SP]
Triple Slash (Lv.1) → Triple Slash (Lv.3)
——
[Spend 20 SP]
Moonlight Slash (Lv.1) → Moonlight Slash (Lv.3)
——
[Spend 20 SP]
Backstep Slash (Lv.1) → Backstep Slash (Lv.3)
——
A total of 60 SP points spent—raising every skill except Inner Oni Swordsmanship to its current level cap.
SP remaining: 70.
The rest he saved for when the Sword Soul template hit Level 20 and unlocked new abilities.
Even so, after upgrading, he didn't feel much of a difference.
Frowning slightly, he considered the possibilities.
There was no actual cooldown timer on skills here, but their limitations still showed in another way—using something like Triple Slash, with its intense forward bursts, put immense strain on the body, making continuous use impossible.
In other words—
Cooldown here existed in the form of stamina drain and physical strain.
"If upgrading a skill reduces stamina drain and lessens the physical burden… then these SP points are absolutely worth it!"
That thought left him eager to test it.
Finishing his bento quickly, he could feel his stamina recovering. He slowed his exploration pace slightly—both to digest and to move safely in an unfamiliar part of the floor.
But soon, a Killer Ant appeared up ahead.
He fell back on his tried-and-true approach—inflicting non-lethal damage with sword aura to let it call for help, bringing the entire swarm down on him.
He called it… "Fishing for Lawbreakers."
The wait wasn't long.
With a rumble of collapsing rock, the wall ahead split open—revealing the massive swarm that had answered the distress call.
"Once I deal with this lot…"
"…today's leveling goal will be complete."
By now, he was almost desensitized to Killer Ants. Gripping his two shortswords, his gaze swept calmly over the gathering horde.
Of course, there was one more thing to confirm before he left the Dungeon—
Whether leveling up his skills actually reduced stamina usage.
That, after all, would shape his entire future combat style.
---
Access more chapters at patreon.com/dzeref887