Ronan headed down while taking out a notebook and a quill.
He dipped the tip of the quill in ink and began to write. He recorded the details, his thoughts, and what he had learned from his recent experiment.
Even with a useful ability like Sharp Mind, Ronan never gave up using paper and pen.
He also had a small dream: to fill the library of his future Familia with notes he wrote himself and magic books he collected.
Since he liked collecting things, wanting a collection of his own was normal, right?
...
6th Floor, skipped.
7th Floor, skipped.
8th Floor...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out from a corner of the floor.
It was a spacious chamber. The ceiling was about ten meters high, so the space did not feel cramped. The room was wide enough for Ronan, a mage, to move around and test his Magic.
"Fireball!"
Firelight reflected on Ronan's face under his hood. Blue light flashed as his body moved.
Swish. The fireball trailed flames and shot toward the approaching Killer Ants.
In an instant, with a loud boom, the fireball exploded. Flames spread out and swallowed two nearby monsters.
Blue light filled Ronan's eyes, reflecting the burning flames.
Under the pressure of his long-range Magic, the monsters kept coming one after another. However, they could never get within ten meters of him.
His aim with Magic still needed work. For example, Cinder had a risk of missing once the target was more than five meters away.
But Fireball was different. It was large, and the explosion covered a wide area, making it easy for Ronan to hit his target even if his aim was slightly off.
"Fireball! Fireball! Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The monsters were swallowed by flames and burned away. In the end, they turned into dust under the force of the blasts.
A series of explosions rose from the floor. The heat and shockwaves spread around, making it hard to breathe.
The heat made Ronan reach out and pull his mask up slightly. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.
"This feels great! What kind of mage would I be without wide-area attacks? Compared to Cinder, this large fireball feels much better!"
After a period of training, Ronan was gradually getting used to repeated bursts of Magic in a short time. This was a fast-casting technique.
Last time, he had struggled against the Orcs only because he lacked experience in that area. Or rather, he had never fought with such intensity before. But having no experience did not mean he could not learn.
As long as he trained properly, he could quickly raise his Magic stat and improve the speed and strength of his casting at the same time.
Plus, now that he had Fireball, this burst tactic would gradually become something he used often.
...
Facing the firelight, Ronan grinned and chuckled softly. He continued until all the monsters in the chamber were destroyed. His excited gaze even looked like he wanted more.
When people got carried away, they often failed to notice danger. Ronan did not notice that the Dungeon had already reacted to him.
It was as if the Dungeon had decided to punish him.
Creak.
Suddenly, countless cracks appeared on the walls of the entire chamber. Monsters crawled out of the walls in dense groups, one after another.
There was no time to think about the monsters he had just burned. What appeared next was a Monster Party.
Ronan: "..."
His joy stopped at once. The smile slowly disappeared from his face.
"Oh boy, this doesn't look good..."
Facing all those red eyes, Ronan fell silent, sweat running down his back.
He quietly backed away.
One step, two steps, three steps.
The next second.
He turned around instantly and ran at full speed.
"SCREECH!!!!!!!!!!!"
...
It was around the time when adventurers finished their work. On the regular routes, small groups of adventurers passed by from time to time.
"Hasn't the Dungeon been a little too noisy these past few days? The Guild hasn't even finished investigating that Monster Party on the 7th Floor two days ago. Now what's happening? Is someone else causing trouble?"
"Dammit, give me a break. Can't we explore the Dungeon in peace for once? Can't they let us make money without trouble?"
"Go say that to Evilus. I doubt they'll listen."
"You... I..."
"Calm down first. Listen, besides the sound of explosions, nothing has happened. Why panic?"
"Wait, do you feel the ground shaking a little?"
"Is it an earthquake?"
"This is the freaking Dungeon!"
"Then what else could it be? A monster riot?"
Then, they saw a hooded figure running toward them from the end of the tunnel with a large group of monsters chasing after him.
"Do you think that guy is running this way on purpose?"
"Dammit, you and your big mouth!"
The adventurer who cursed looked in shock at the hooded figure who suddenly rushed out of the tunnel. Before he could react, the guy flashed past him.
"Have fun, guys."
When they brushed past each other, Ronan glanced at the crest on their clothing. He narrowed his eyes and left behind a casual sentence. He disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"???"
The group of adventurers who had been chatting just now froze in place.
"What are you standing there for? Run!"
"Damn it! You bastard!"
Ronan quickly disappeared at the end of the tunnel. He could still hear the curses of those adventurers.
"Soma Familia? Heh, what a small world."
Ronan's lips curled into a sneer.
The Soma Familia was a mess, and many of its members would do anything for Soma wine.
Ronan was all too familiar with the way these scumbags acted. To earn money for that so-called divine wine, they would do anything in the city. Because they often caused trouble and disrupted order, they had been taught a lesson by the Ganesha Familia and Astraea Familia many times. Yet, they never changed.
They were already like this on the surface, and they were even worse in the Dungeon. Robbing others was normal for them.
...
Half an hour later.
Ronan returned quietly to the underground Adventurer's Plaza.
Thinking back on those adventurers he had left with a Monster Party, he smiled coldly.
Those guys must have suffered badly. A few of them even seemed like old acquaintances.
As he walked toward a corner of the plaza, he recalled his past experience.
Soon, he thought back to a time shortly after he first arrived in Orario.
At that time, he had just settled down in Orario. He had only been an adventurer for a few days. One day, he was lucky enough to get a Drop Item.
He had no experience back then. He was a complete rookie.
Ronan, who had just made a small amount of money, came out of the Exchange. Unfortunately, he was spotted by the thugs of the Soma Familia. He was then miserably cornered in an alley and bullied. It was the first time in his two lives that he had been bullied, so he remembered it clearly.
Although less than a day later, Persephone, the captain of Demeter Familia, took him to get revenge, Ronan was not the type to forget a grudge.
Because of this, he did not feel bad about leaving a Monster Party to those guys, especially when they had done plenty of dirty things and already had an old grudge against him.
In the past, there had been no opportunity. Now that he had accidentally gotten a chance to mess with them, he naturally would not let it pass.
Giving these guys a bit of trouble could be considered helping the other adventurers a little.
Of course, Ronan knew his limits. Thinking that the monsters on that floor could easily kill them was unrealistic. Any adventurer who had survived for a while had a few tricks.
But making them get injured, spend more on equipment repairs, or even waste a few uses of a Magic Sword was already good enough.
Letting them die quickly would not be as satisfying as draining their money and making them unable to drink Soma wine.
To them, that was worse than killing them.
...
He hid in a quiet corner of the Adventurer's Plaza and watched secretly. As expected, the members of the Soma Familia ran out of the tunnel in a terrible state, just as he had predicted.
Besides looking pathetic, they had not lost any members.
Many adventurers were gathered in the hall.
They all noticed the Soma Familia group.
"Look, it's Soma's people. Did they mess up? Hilarious."
"They're always acting arrogant. It's about time they had some bad luck."
Judging by the attitude of the other adventurers, the Soma Familia adventurers were truly hated by everyone.
Right now, compared to how they looked before, almost every one of the Soma Familia members was injured. Their equipment was badly damaged, and one was even spitting blood.
"Fuck! Dammit! I've been hunting for years, and now some bastard pulled this on me. Don't let me find out who he was."
"He made me lose a Magic Sword. Months of work for nothing. Fuck!"
Several people cursed the culprit, their faces red with anger.
Ronan noticed that, compared to the other angry fools, the one wearing glasses looked more dangerous.
After looking at him for a moment, Ronan quietly returned to the surface.
People like them were not worth remembering. Their biggest contribution was simply giving him some Emotion Points.