In this divine-fantasy world, the concept of Beastmen, dungeon or surface races with animal traits, actually refers to two completely different groups.
The first are demi-humans, sentient races with faint animal traits, usually ears and tails.
For example: Otta, born of the Boarfolk.
Allen, born of the Catfolk.
They, like humans, elves, and dwarves, can receive blessings from gods and live as adventurers, rather than struggling through primitive lives of claws and fangs.
The second type, however, are the Dungeon's beastmen, monsters that appear as anthropomorphic beasts.
Starting from the 10th Floor, one such group appears: the Orcs, large pig-headed humanoid monsters. These creatures, standing over three meters tall, with pig-like heads, obese green-skinned bodies, and jaws full of fangs, were far from the demi-human neighbors above ground.
Right now, Aether (Renjiro) and Lumine were fighting against these very monsters.
The Dungeon itself, being a living labyrinth, had a peculiar feature adventurers called the Landform, natural weapons created by the Dungeon for monsters to use.
In short: the Dungeon generates certain environmental constructs within each floor that monsters can rip out and use as weapons. Yes, this armory wasn't meant for adventurers, but for monsters.
As if to demonstrate, crack, crack!
The 10th Floor was a wide plain, cloaked in white mist, dotted with patches of short grass and the occasional withered tree two or three meters tall.
These trees weren't truly dead plants, but Dungeon-made constructs. Extremely sturdy.
Now, several orcs lured in by their Taunt Traps, items that lure monsters via unbearable stench, casually tore out these withered trees and wielded them as massive clubs, just like the Mountain Giants from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
Of course, the Guild occasionally posted quests asking strong adventurers, or big factions like the Ganesha Familia, to clear the Dungeon's "armory" to reduce risk for newcomers.
But it was little more than a drop in the ocean.
Especially since groups like the Freya Familia, devoted to the creed of survival of the strongest, had no interest in such thankless work.
As Aether braced for combat, thoughts flashed through his mind:
The key difference between monsters and intelligent races is whether they have a magic stone inside.
If a sentient being has one, they're classified as an Irregular.
Conversely, among monsters, the rare ones without stones are called Xenos, though almost no one knows of their existence.
Orcs, classified as Large Monsters, huge Dungeon creatures with high defense and HP, were especially tough. Their size made them hard to kill outright with weapons.
Their weak points: the brain (well protected by a thick skull) or the magic stone in the chest (shallowly buried beneath the skin).
The latter was much easier to pierce.
The catch, of course, was that Magic Stones, monster cores that dissolve them when broken, were adventurers' main profit source. Smash the stone, and the monster turned to mist without dropping loot.
But Aether wasn't worried. As long as the EXP was good, he didn't mind taking a "loss" in materials.
Lumine, take the imps around us. I'll use this chance to gain experience fighting large monsters.
Got it.
They split up, each moving from the taunt trap's center toward different enemy groups.
On Aether's side, whoosh!
No fancy maneuvers. He dashed straight in, using his strong Base Stats to meet the first orc head-on.
Roooaaar!
The orc bellowed, lifting its tree-club high overhead.
Aether sidestepped smoothly, letting the blow crash into the ground with a thunderous BOOM, sending dust flying.
With visibility cut, Aether activated Elemental Vision, ability to detect enemies through terrain or visual obstruction, the monochrome view outlining the orc's bulky form.
He leapt onto the buried club for leverage and drove his blade forward.
Shhk!
His black-red Traveler's Sword pierced straight through the orc's chest.
The sharp feedback in his grip told him the magic stone was shattered.
Bang!
The orc dissolved into black mist. Aether landed lightly, expression calm.
Not bad for a first try.
But more were coming.
Let's test headshots next.
He wiped the blood off his sword and turned toward the next target.
Meanwhile, Lumine was in motion.
Wind Blade!
Her combat ability rivaled Aether's, though her stats differed: less Agility than Aether, but higher Strength.
Facing a mob of Imps, small but dangerous goblin-like monsters, she unleashed Anemo Skill: Wind Vortex Blade.
The spell dragged the shrieking monsters into midair, spiraling wind blades slicing them apart.
Boom!
When the vortex finally burst, the imps disintegrated into mist, and their magic stones were pulverized in the process.
Luckily, the explosion knocked back other nearby imps, giving Lumine space.
She raised her Lv.20 Dawn Sword and charged in, mowing down survivors like weeds.
Imps had nowhere near the defense of orcs. Easy kills.
Even while fighting, she kept tally:
One Imp: 28 EXP.
One Orc: 44 EXP.
She noted, With our level increasing, earlier floors give barely any EXP now. But here, it's perfect for grinding.
Even better, as soon as they reached the 10th Floor, both she and Aether noticed something else:
Their skill Starry Abyss, unique ability increasing mana recovery in Abyss-type zones, was recovering mana much faster.
The closer we are to Abyss-type zones, the higher the regen efficiency… huh? We've already doubled recovery at just the 10th Floor.
That meant their tactics for Elemental Descent, summoning skill limited by mana, might need revising.
Spotting another huge group of imps, too many for blade work, Lumine spun on one foot and unleashed a tornado.
Anemo Burst: Whispering Winds.
Scatter with the wind!
Boom!
A massive gale tore across the battlefield, sweeping even the outermost imps into the air, battering them continuously.
Her pressure instantly lightened.
With Paimon hovering nearby to provide battlefield oversight, Lumine didn't even bother checking results.
Aether was doing the same on his side.
At this pace, if we keep this grind up, we'll probably hit full Lv.20 once we burn through these few hundred taunt traps.
The EXP farming continued.
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