After a short break to recover their stamina, Ronan weighed the magic stones in his hand and asked Jeanne, "Jeanne, do you feel any pressure fighting the War Shadows on the 6th floor?"
"War Shadows?" Jeanne recalled the entries from the Dungeon Monster Manual II. "The manual says their potential is around the G to F rank... but I didn't feel anything special. They felt about the same as the monsters on the first floor."
Ronan was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood why.
"It's because of her skills..."
[Ruler's Verdict]
Greatly increases resistance to all magic; increases Strength when facing it.
Greatly increases resistance to negative status effects; increases Endurance when resisting them.
Slightly weakens targets or groups marked as enemies.
[Saint's Heart]
Reduces all incoming damage.
Continuously restores Stamina and Mind.
[Holy Maiden]
Massively increases all Abilities.
Slightly increases the mental resistance of Familia members or allies within a certain range.
[Ruler's Verdict] weakened the enemy.
[Saint's Heart] reduced damage.
[Holy Maiden] raised all her Abilities.
Once Jeanne's base stats went up, fighting enemies above her level would not just be possible. It would be easy.
These three skills together meant weakening the enemy while strengthening herself. Even if both sides started at a similar level, the gap would quickly grow wider and wider.
Even without those skill bonuses, Jeanne still had veteran combat experience, refined techniques, and incredible willpower.
When all of that came together, her actual fighting strength became much higher than her base stats alone. Even with stats in the 300s, she could fight at a much higher level in real battle.
From that point of view, there really was no big difference for her between the 1st floor and the 6th floor.
Realizing this, Ronan took a deep breath. He couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Let's go. Further down!"
With Jeanne leading the way, he only needed to support her from behind.
They would gain experience faster, make more money, and maybe even find more treasure chests.
The 7th Floor.
Ronan had already pulled up his mask.
The black mask covered the lower half of his face, leaving only his alert eyes visible under the shadow of his hood.
He took the staff hanging from his backpack, unwrapped the maintenance cloth, and gripped it in his left hand. He carefully watched the dark corridors ahead.
Looking at the brand-new weapon in his hand, Ronan felt very satisfied.
[Name]: Scholar's Staff
[Origin]: System
[Type]: Two-handed Staff
[Effect]: Magic amplification, increased magic effectiveness, durable.
[Description]: A two-handed staff made from the custom blueprint he obtained earlier. A spherical magic crystal is set into the head, and runes are engraved along the shaft. This greatly improves its performance and leaves room for future upgrades. Because of its twisted design, it is nicknamed the "Twisted Staff." It is a practical and high-quality weapon for a mage.
The Scholar's Staff was a custom weapon made from a blueprint and techniques found in a treasure chest.
The main material was a Branch of the Great Holy Tree provided by Ronan himself.
Even so, this staff, along with the other materials, custom fees, and a personal favor from the Goddess Demeter, had cost a total of 5 million Valis.
As everyone knew, weapons and items related to mages and magic were never cheap, especially a core piece of equipment like a staff.
Though the price was shocking, it was definitely worth it. In a sense, this was now his main weapon.
With its strong performance, Ronan's combat strength rose again.
Combined with his huge reserves of Mind and his skill bonuses, his overall combat strength was much higher than before.
As the staff resonated with the magic refined from his own Mind, the runes on the shaft seemed to wake up. They flickered with light, pulsing like lines of energy.
The surge of magic caused his eyes to glow with a faint blue light. A faint pressure spread from his body.
His Mind was simply too great, so some of it naturally leaked out.
This change made Jeanne, who was scouting ahead, look back at him again and again.
During their usual training, Ronan's magic had been banned, so they had only practiced close combat.
Seeing Ronan in full mage mode for the first time surprised her.
What shocked her most was the sheer amount of Mind he had.
"Unbelievable... your Mind is so vast. I don't even know how many times greater it is than mine," Jeanne said honestly.
Under his mask, Ronan smiled. His tone was calm but proud. "With my Mind, I could stay in the Dungeon and cast magic all day without stopping!"
Of course, only small magic like Burn, Ronan added to himself.
Mind was the fuel for magic.
For a mage, Mind was like stamina for a warrior. Even a powerful fighter would be helpless if they ran out of stamina.
It was the same for mages. The amount of Mind did not directly decide how strong the magic was, but it decided how long a mage could keep casting.
No matter how strong your magic was, you could not use it without enough Mind.
This showed just how overpowered Ronan's skills were.
[Demon King Emblem]
Endurance and Magic values are doubled.
Total Mind is increased by 100 times. Mind restores continuously. Greatly increases the recovery speed and efficiency of Mind.
On top of Ronan's base stats, his total Mind was increased a hundredfold. That meant Ronan had far more Mind than another mage with the same base stats.
For most mages, Magic was something they saved for important moments in battle.
Ronan was different.
Under the influence of [Demon King Emblem] and [Truth of All Magic], he could use magic as easily as swinging a weapon. He could throw out spells one after another without much pressure.
Of course, there was also a downside.
For example, instant casting lowered the spell's power, making the damage and effect much weaker.
But Ronan could accept that.
In his view, as long as an instant-cast spell was as strong as a normal close-range strike of the same element, then his fighting style would still have the advantage because of its range.
On top of that, magic was much more flexible and useful than simply swinging a sword around.
"Stop getting carried away. Something is coming. Stay alert," Jeanne's cold voice rang out with a serious warning.
Since it involved their lives, Ronan immediately became alert. His body relaxed slightly into a fighting stance, and his sharp gaze locked onto the depths of the passage ahead.
The sound of dense, rustling friction soon reached their ears. Ronan's face stiffened, and his expression darkened.
"It's Killer Ants. They start appearing from the 7th floor. Whether it's their potential or their traits, they are very troublesome. Along with War Shadows, they are notorious rookie killers. Even experienced adventurers can get into trouble if they aren't careful."
Jeanne stared at the shadows moving in the dark, her brow furrowed. "Rookie killers? That sounds like they won't be easy to deal with."
Ronan shifted his feet to shoulder-width, lowered his center of gravity, and prepared for battle. "You can guess what they are from the name 'Killer Ant.' As insects, they have hard shells and very high defense. If an adventurer's stats are similar to theirs and they don't have a good weapon, it's hard to break through their defense."
"Combined with their sharp claws, the chance of an accident in melee combat is very high. It's easy for a beginner to make one mistake and get badly hurt."
"That's one of the reasons they are called rookie killers."
"One of them?"
"Yes. A single Killer Ant isn't that much trouble. As long as your weapon is good and you have some skill, you can handle them if your stats are close. What really makes them dangerous is... these Killer Ants call for help when they are in danger."
"You understand the habits of insect-type monsters, right? They rarely move alone. Usually, they appear in swarms..."
Before Ronan could finish, one pair after another of red eyes lit up in the darkness. There were so many that they filled most of the space.
"Siss siss siss—"
Along with the hissing came the terrifying sight of a monster swarm charging toward them.
Luckily, it was Ronan and Jeanne standing there. If other adventurers of the same level had faced this, they probably would not even think about fighting. They would just turn and run.
The Killer Ants had arrived.
"This pressure..."
This was the Dungeon's first real test for them.
Ronan took a sharp breath, and a chill ran down his spine.