Using killer ants to lure and ambush enemies was something Liang Yue was very familiar with—he just hadn't expected the same tactic to work perfectly on this floor as well.
Instead of quickly wiping out the imps, he used their large numbers and stealthy nature to hone his combat skills.
This unintentional move triggered a Monster Feast on the 10th floor. Watching the monsters continuously gather toward him, he thought:
"Once I finish this wave… I'll push today's training to the limit. Shouldn't be a problem to break through to S-rank stats."
Liang Yue knew that sheer numbers could cause a qualitative change, but rather than fear, seeing them gather only filled him with anticipation.
He didn't wait for them to fully assemble and let the danger peak.
Even through the mist, the massive outlines of the orcs were faintly visible. Analyzing the battlefield, he quickly locked onto a target.
With Triple Slash as his gap-closing skill, Liang Yue charged straight ahead.
The sword-energy effect from Inner Swordsmanship shredded the dry underbrush and tree trunks blocking his way as if they were paper.
In just ten meters, he executed a lightning-fast kill—his sword energy tore through the orc's thick hide, revealing a savage cross-section, and blood gushed like a fountain.
But with their massive bodies, he couldn't kill all of them at once. Spotting him in the mist, another orc swung its great axe down with both hands.
The blow split the fog, but Liang Yue had already sensed the danger and stepped back to evade. In that opening, he struck again—dual short swords crossed in a diagonal slash.
The Cross Slash's terrifying cutting force split the stone axe in two without losing momentum, carving deep into the orc's vital point. It vanished into black dust.
"This level of battle intensity is just right."
Finishing off two orcs without pause, he immediately moved on to the easier targets—more imps and bat monsters.
Any hesitation would be disrespectful to this vast horde. Feeling the heat in every cell of his body, Liang Yue once again surged forward like a sharpened blade, tearing through the encirclement of monsters.
——
In the exhilarating flow of combat, Liang Yue lost track of time. Every time he felled the monsters in his way, more arrived, drawn by the sounds of battle—exactly what he wanted for training.
No matter the species, his approach was the same: avoid their attacks, then strike back with the most lethal slash possible.
The cost was stamina. The gain—experience points.
Even without considering monster strength, the sheer numbers alone were giving him enormous gains. By the end, he'd pushed his level up to 23 purely through kills.
He couldn't even remember how many monsters had fallen in this feast—he only knew one thing: as long as the monsters weren't wiped out, he couldn't stop moving.
Otherwise, he'd be the one to fall here.
"How many left?"
The mist still hung thick, making it impossible to tell how many remained. After slicing an orc's arm clean off, his left ghost hand brought his sword upward in one fluid motion, finishing off the last visible monster.
The slash parted the air and peeled back some of the fog.
All he saw were piles of deep-purple magic stones scattered on the ground—no more enemies in sight.
"Phew…"
High-intensity battle had his chest heaving, his throat feeling like it was on fire. As the adrenaline faded, muscle soreness swept over his body.
He forced himself to remain standing for safety—just in case an imp was still hiding in the brush—before finally relaxing enough to drink several deep gulps from his water flask.
Right hand loose at his side, he shook out the tension in his muscles.
After several minutes with no monsters appearing, he confirmed the feast was over and sat on a fallen, dry tree trunk.
His breathing slowly returned to normal. The mental fatigue from unwinding after combat was, in some ways, more overwhelming than the muscle aches.
Even so, a pure smile formed on his face.
For one, it had been a truly dangerous and challenging battle—exactly the kind of training that gave massive stat growth.
For another, the Monster Feast had lured in a huge number of monsters, providing not only a flood of experience points but also a mountain of magic stones that would sell well at the Guild—easing his financial issues.
Once his muscles loosened enough for him to defend himself again if needed, he began collecting loot. The weight in his pack was satisfyingly heavy.
"The danger of a Monster Feast is way higher than using killer ants to bait enemies. No wonder Eina made a point to warn me about it."
With the area now cleared, a heavy hunger hit him as the price of all that exertion. He took out his prepared lunch bento and began eating to replenish his energy.
Now he truly understood why Eina had been so thorough and serious yesterday when explaining the dangers from the 10th floor onward.
For a solo adventurer, even a lucky one, if they ran into a Monster Feast without effective combat skills or magic… escaping alive would be nothing short of a miracle.
From a normal adventurer's perspective, recalling the battle, Liang Yue thought:
"If we go by the definition of a 'deed of renown'… for an adventurer to face down the massive horde from a Monster Feast and kill them all—shouldn't that count as one?"
Whether it would officially be recorded as such, he didn't know.
But if it were up to him, he'd call it nothing more than "daily training." The stat gains alone were undeniably huge.
After finishing the hearty meal and feeling his strength returning, he resumed his break.
With all his stats improved except for Magic Power, he mused:
"Keep pushing the stats… Magic Power, huh… The Sword Soul template doesn't offer anything for that. Guess I'll have to get a magic book and try it out when I get the chance."
Magic was a unique part of the DanMachi world—if he could master it, there was no reason to pass it up.
But right now, the priority was raising his stats.
Level ascension was nothing to worry about—with both the Blue Papilio swarm and the Monster Feast under his belt, and if worst came to worst, he could always trigger another.
"From here on… I'll give it my all."
With that, Liang Yue picked up his weapons and pressed deeper into the Dungeon, eager to see—
Just how high could he push his stats through this all-out, high-intensity training?
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