Clap, clap, clap—
Standing at the rear of the battlefield, Tsubaki walked forward, applauding as the initial skirmish concluded. She helped gather the magic stones scattered on the ground while offering her praise. "Not bad, Little Levi. Your strength is already superior to many mid-tier Level 2s. It seems you truly did train hard before receiving your Falna."
Levi flicked his right hand, shaking the Flying Sky Sword to dissipate the ice elements on the blade and splash the monster blood onto the ground. He glanced at the status panel displayed on his retina:
[Levi Bright]Level: 1 (1.8%)
Behind the previously clean level bar, a progress bar had appeared. If he wasn't mistaken, once this was filled, it meant he had accumulated enough "Great Feats" to rank up from Lv.1 to Lv.2.
One Hellhound only gives 0.3% toward the feat?A bit low.But better than nothing.
Because of his intuitive panel, Levi understood his condition perfectly. Tsubaki, as the Captain of the Hephaestus Familia, had frequently led juniors to stack their blessings. She easily saw that a few Hellhounds wouldn't be enough to trigger a level-up.
"Hellhounds are too easy for you," Tsubaki noted. "Even fighting one-against-many, you'd need hundreds of battles to fill that bar. I suggest we head down further. The Minotaurs on the 15th floor, or perhaps the Fang-Toothed Tigers, should provide much more experience."
"Of course, the danger rises accordingly," she added. "So, what's your call?"
If Levi were alone, he would have stuck to the 13th floor for safety. But with a First-Tier adventurer like Tsubaki by his side, he didn't need to fear an unmanageable crisis. He nodded. "To the 15th floor, then."
In the Middle Floors, the number of adventurers dropped sharply, meaning there was almost no competition for kills. Any adventurer or team could claim a sizeable area to farm. Even so, while the descent to the 13th floor took less than two hours, the trek from the 13th to the 15th took nearly three due to the constant monster spawns.
Fortunately, the continuous ambushes helped Levi's progress. By the time they reached their destination, his progress bar was already a quarter full. About 50 meters into the floor, Levi stopped. "We'll wait for the spawns here."
"Alright," Tsubaki agreed.
The Dungeon held a deep malice toward humans. Not long after they stopped, the rock walls cracked, and seven Minotaurs lumbered out. Having faced multiple foes before, Levi didn't start with enchanted arrows this time. He drew ordinary arrows, and as he notched one, Mana Burst: En quietly activated.
Twang! Whoosh! "ROAAR—!"
An arrow streaked through the air, piercing the eye of one Minotaur and sinking deep into its skull. It let out a pained cry before turning into ash. The other six ignored their fallen comrade, charging from different directions with guttural roars.
Levi didn't retreat immediately. He loosed two more shots. Minotaurs are merely 15th-floor monsters; their stats usually range between G and E. Evading Levi's attack, which was buffed by an additional 1,100 points in Dexterity, was impossible. Two more screams followed, and two more piles of ash appeared.
By then, the remaining four Minotaurs were upon him. As melee-specialized monsters, they didn't use ranged magic, instead attempting to stun him with a coordinated roar-induced shockwave.
The Minotaurs succeeded—or rather, Levi allowed them to. Switching to his Flying Sky Sword, he held the scabbard in his left hand and the hilt in his right. When the four beasts were within three meters, he unsheathed the blade with a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Simultaneously, the mana concentrated in his arms surged through his bloodline into the blade of the Flying Sky Sword. This extended his attack range from just over one meter to a full three meters!
That wasn't all. Blue-white ice crystals erupted along the mana-formed edge. These ice elements turned into the sharpest blades imaginable, carving through the flesh of the Minotaurs in less than a quarter of a second.
— Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu: Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki — Frost!
A second later, Levi sheathed his sword. Click.
Following the soft sound of the tsuba hitting the scabbard, the charging momentum of the last four Minotaurs halted abruptly. Their upper and lower bodies slid apart before they dissolved into black ash.
[Levi Bright]Level: 1 (25.4% → 29.6%)
Tsubaki, having seen Levi's fighting style before, wasn't overly shocked. She calmly walked forward to pick up the magic stones. Levi used the respawn cooldown to reflect on the battle, thinking about how to optimize his movements. Three minutes later, the walls vibrated again. A new round was starting.
Inside Hephaestus's workshop.
The one-eyed Goddess sat on the sofa, arms crossed and eyes closed, her fingers tapping rhythmically against her arm. On the other side, Hestia's expression grew increasingly anxious as time passed. She sat, stood, and paced in circles. As the sun began to dip toward the west, she finally reached her limit.
"Why aren't Levi and the others back yet?"
"Hestia, you're being too restless," Hephaestus opened her left eye and squinted at her friend. "While I understand your worry, please have a little faith in my child."
"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Hestia looked apologetic; she was simply blinded by concern. Even knowing Levi was a careful man and that he was guarded by a Level 5, the fear in her heart wouldn't subside.