Maybe it was just in his head,
but after enjoying Hestia's special treatment,
Liang Yue felt unusually refreshed when he woke up.
The fatigue from Dungeon exploration had completely vanished.
After a quick wash, he glanced at Hestia sleeping soundly on the sofa.
Her face was serene and delicate,
her lips curved into a faint smile,
and when she turned over, he could faintly hear her gentle murmurs.
"…Not bad."
It was the kind of warm, peaceful daily life he could get used to—
but Liang Yue didn't have time to enjoy it now.
Tomorrow, he would have to return the two mithril short swords.
The sharpness of his weapons would directly affect his efficiency.
As for his immediate goal—
he planned to use the last two days of this "weapon trial card" advantage
to push his Dungeon progress to the 10th floor.
"Need to get a feel for the dangers of the next few floors…
Leveling up the Sword Soul class can be slowed down a bit."
If he stayed on the 7th floor,
the sheer number of Killer Ants there would still help him grow.
It would work, but the speed would be slower.
And fighting monsters that didn't put up enough of a challenge
wouldn't help raise his stats as much either.
Let these weapons stir up one last wave.
He'd raise his abilities across the board,
then accomplish a feat to level up as an adventurer—
that was Liang Yue's plan moving forward.
Before heading to the Dungeon,
he began with weapon maintenance.
The work of Tsubaki, Orario's strongest smith,
was beyond anything he could have imagined.
These second-tier weapons were so sharp and durable
that even after intense Dungeon runs,
they still retained their edge.
Even after channeling sword energy through them,
there was no issue with the blade's rigidity.
"Great weapons."
"…Just a little pricey."
There was nothing wrong with the swords—
they felt perfect in his hands.
The high price was just his own problem.
Leaving the Familia's home,
he headed to West Street to buy Dungeon supplies.
There, as if waiting for him,
Syr stood in front of the Hostess of Fertility,
holding a bento she'd prepared in advance.
When she spotted him,
her lovely face broke into a smile,
carrying the fresh warmth of spring.
She didn't make any demands of him—
just handed over the bento with a deliberately serious expression,
her pale gray eyes twinkling with playful amusement.
"Liang Yue-kun,
I hope your Dungeon adventure goes well today.
This is a lunch bento I made for you!"
"Thanks."
Thinking of that staged "coincidental" meeting before,
he didn't take this as some calculated scheme.
It was more like something he'd expected anyway.
Taking the warm bento,
he raised an eyebrow slightly.
"No extra strings attached, right?"
"None~"
"I just hope you'll come back safely from the Dungeon."
Her smile narrowed with sly charm.
She didn't say the rest aloud—
that at this moment, Liang Yue carried the hopes of many.
——
Syr·Flova.
He remembered her well—
or rather, the personality of the goddess Freya expressed through her.
In the original story, she had once waged a Familia War to forcibly take Bell.
After losing, her Familia was half-disbanded,
yet she didn't stir up any trouble from the shadows—
instead choosing to work as a waitress at the Hostess of Fertility.
So long as she wasn't an enemy,
he had no strong feelings toward Freya either way.
If he guessed right,
her skill Single-Minded Affection was probably bound to him now.
That thought always gave him a strange, uneasy feeling.
But looked at another way,
wasn't that also a kind of safety net?
"…
Let's just get to the Dungeon.
Once I level up, I can take a few days to rest."
The Babel Tower,
rising from the very center of Orario,
was like an enchantress draining away all one's strength—
irresistibly alluring.
Every day it drew countless adventurers into its depths.
The metaphor might sound abstract,
but to Liang Yue, it wasn't wrong.
Sweeping his gaze across the central plaza before Babel,
he saw that even in the morning,
it was already crowded with adventurers.
His white demon arm was hidden beneath his cloak,
letting him blend in with the crowd.
The only difference—
he was alone,
while most others traveled in groups.
"Hope today's run goes smoothly."
He smiled lightly with anticipation,
looking toward the line of adventurers entering Babel.
Compared to usual,
today's journey was filled with more unknowns.
From the half-elf Eina,
he'd gathered information up to the 7th floor.
Beyond that,
his understanding was vague—
but it was exactly that mystery
that most fueled his desire to explore deeper.
——
Passing through the safe zone of the starting floor,
he didn't go out of his way to hunt monsters.
Relying on his memory of recent Dungeon runs,
he casually cleared away any beasts blocking his path—
Shadow Mobs, Underground Lizards, Killer Ants.
The meager experience they provided
no longer made them worth seeking out.
"The Flowing Heart skill…
It can boost sword energy damage—
but I wonder if it can also extend the range?"
As he reached the passage toward the 8th floor,
his curiosity about his newly-learned skill grew.
If it could increase both the power and reach of his sword energy,
then activating Flowing Heart for a damage boost
would be worth the extra stamina cost.
There was no reason to hesitate.
He moved into the passage.
The tunnel was cloaked in darkness,
lit only by the faint glow of lantern fruits growing along the walls.
The floor's corridor was a safe zone.
Before long,
an unexplored section lay ahead.
"Alright—let's start today's exploration here."
After so much time in the Dungeon,
he was well past the stage of a nervous rookie.
Scanning the empty surroundings,
he saw no other adventurers.
He drew both short swords from his waist.
Their cold blades gleamed all the sharper under the dim, bluish light.
"Flowing Heart."
…
Buffing before battle was a habit from his previous life.
Skills took time to activate—
and if you waited until the enemy was upon you,
you'd only make yourself flustered.
When Flowing Heart took effect,
his body didn't feel strengthened—
but his gaze fell to the twin blades in his hands.
The gray-black mithril surface shimmered with a faint flow of light,
as if a chill had been added to their edge.
"Stamina drain's lower than I thought."
Feeling the slow trickle of stamina loss,
he decided it was negligible after his latest status update.
Without further delay,
he prepared to start his exploration of this floor—
But the battle instincts honed over the past days
suddenly warned him of danger ahead.
---
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