Inside the pale blue underground space, a skirmish reached its climax in an instant, without a single moment of delay.
Human adventurers and the monsters birthed by the Dungeon shared a naturally hostile relationship the moment they stepped into this space; every encounter was a battle to the death. Had it been any other rookie adventurer, being relentlessly attacked by a monster during their very first foray into the Dungeon would surely have caused panic.
However, Leon, who had long anticipated such a situation and prepared himself mentally, raised his left hand without a word. Equipped upon it was the small buckler gifted to him by Raul, which moved immediately to shield him as he raised his arm.
Bang!
A second later, an impact rattled against the small shield Leon had raised. The Goblin that had charged toward Leon swung its arm viciously, its sharp-nailed claws striking the buckler and sending a shockwave through it.
"Gawuu!"
Seeing its strike blocked, the Goblin shrieked in annoyance. It swung its other hand, clawing fiercely at the buckler, but failed to leave even a single scratch on its surface.
Hiding behind the shield, Leon calmly withstood the Goblin's assault. His eyes were locked onto his opponent, observing its every move. He was in no hurry to counterattack; instead, he seemed to be deliberately enduring the Goblin's strikes, steadfastly blocking the sharp claws with a remarkably steady composure.
"Gawuu! Gawuu!"
The Goblin attacked Leon again and again, even trying to circle around to bypass the shield and strike him directly. But its movements were entirely caught by Leon, who watched it incessantly. Whenever the Goblin tried to flank him, he would swiftly adjust his defensive direction, keeping the arm equipped with the buckler directly in front of the creature. Every attack hit only the shield, yielding no results and driving the small monster into a shrieking frenzy.
During this process, Leon slowly concluded his observation of his opponent.
Even for a monster, the creatures on the 1st Floor are indeed weak. Their intelligence is low, they only know how to attack with their claws, and their movement patterns are simple. Their methods of attack are pitifully limited—they don't even know how to pick up a rock to throw. Compared to the cunning and despicable Goblins found in certain anime, there's simply no comparison.
Facing a monster for the first time, Leon's thought was not how to resolve the encounter quickly, but how to observe the enemy as much as possible while ensuring his own safety. Analyzing their strength would give him a better foundation for future battles.
The Dungeon, after all, was a dangerous place that birthed monsters. Encountering only one enemy this time was an extremely lucky circumstance; had he suddenly run into several, it would undoubtedly have been a very bad situation. Therefore, seeing only one foe, Leon naturally felt inclined to observe and analyze.
After his analysis, Leon confirmed that the strength of the Goblin before him was worrying. Forget comparing it to powerful adventurers; it was a mystery if this creature could even kill a wolf in the wild. Standing less than a meter tall, an unblessed human or prum of equal size might find it a difficult fight, but for a member of the beastman or dwarf races—who possessed naturally strong physical constitutions—they should be able to handle it even without receiving a Falna.
"A monster of this level provides no pressure when encountered alone. I'll finish this quickly."
The moment he reached that judgment, Leon moved.
Thump!
Leon, who had been passively blocking, suddenly charged forward. He slammed his body into the Goblin, which had fallen into a state of pure rage and leaped high into the air to swing its claws at his head. The buckler struck the creature with brutal force.
"Gagigi!?"
The Goblin clearly hadn't expected the human adventurer, who had been purely defensive, to suddenly charge. Caught off guard by the collision while mid-air, it was sent flying. Its small frame cut through the air, lingering for a second or two before slamming into the ground and tumbling away in a pathetic heap.
In the same breath that he sent the creature flying, Leon charged forward.
Clang!
The sound of a blade leaving its scabbard rang out clearly through the pale blue corridor, the cold, faint light shimmering with a chilling edge. Holding his left hand with the buckler across his chest, Leon charged straight at the Goblin. His right hand, hidden behind the shield, gripped the hilt of the small straight sword at his waist and drew it.
Swish!
A cold arc of light flashed. Leon, rushing toward the Goblin, swung the straight sword in a single strike. By the time the small monster struggled to sit up from the ground, a sword light had already intruded upon its vision.
Squelch!
The sound of flesh being severed by a sharp weapon was even clearer and more heart-shaking than the sound of the blade being drawn. The small straight sword trailed a long arc of light, slicing through the Goblin's neck in one stroke, leaving its small body frozen in place, never to move again.
Blood sprayed from the stump of its neck. The monster's head was tossed into the air, falling to the ground shortly after and rolling several times.
Leon, having swept past the Goblin, maintained his sword-swinging posture. He waited until the head stopped rolling before sheathing his sword and standing upright. He turned back toward his opponent just in time to see the headless corpse slowly topple over.
Whoosh!
Moments later, the headless torso and the head on the ground both burst apart like scattering ash, leaving behind a small, blue-purple crystal.
This was the fate of monsters upon death. As incomplete life forms birthed by the Dungeon, they only possessed a physical body and the ability to act as long as their power core—the magic stone—existed within them. Once they died, their bodies immediately disintegrated, leaving only the magic stone behind, or occasionally, a particularly developed part of their body.
The latter were known as "Drop Items." Not every monster had them; in fact, monsters that left drop items were in the minority. Consequently, the selling price for drop items was generally quite good. No matter how weak the monster, its drop items could be used to craft weapons, armor, or special tools. In Orario, buyers for these materials were everywhere, so there was never a worry about finding a market.
Unfortunately, Leon's luck wasn't good enough to find a drop item on his very first hunt. After the Goblin died, only a tiny magic stone remained. Leon picked it up, and after examining it for a while, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.
"What a tiny magic stone..."
This stone wasn't even whole; it could only be described as a fragment.
"If I sell this to the Guild, I probably won't even get a hundred Valis for it, will I?"
Leon was somewhat repulsed. Though this was the first time he had personally obtained a magic stone from a monster, he had moved countless crates of them during his time handling logistics for the Loki Familia. Those stones had been gathered by his seniors during expeditions into the deep zones of the Dungeon; the smallest among them was the size of a fist, and the largest were bigger than boulders. The latter were usually carved from Floor Bosses and were worth millions or even tens of millions of Valis each.
Because of that, this was the first time Leon had seen a magic stone so small. Or perhaps it should be called... a magic stone shard? Regardless, Leon didn't really want to admit it was a complete stone. It was too small. The Guild determined the purchase price based on size, so the larger the stone, the more valuable it was. The piece in Leon's hand was barely the size of a fingernail; no wonder he felt disdainful.
"Forget it. Money is money."
After a thought, Leon put the shard into the pouch at his waist. Generally speaking, the magic stones obtained from hunting monsters were the direct way adventurers earned money in the Dungeon. These stones could be processed using human technology and utilized in various fields—to craft magic stone lamps, ignition devices, freezers for food preservation, and more. Thus, they were viewed as a precious resource.
Labyrinth City Orario gained immense profits by exporting such magic stone products to other nations. Therefore, the Guild mandated that all magic stones be sold to them, completely monopolizing the profits of the industry. Under these circumstances, adventurers spent their days struggling in the Dungeon from morning till night, naturally aiming to gather as many magic stones as possible to sell to the Guild. This was an adventurer's most direct source of income and their primary means of making a living. Unless they obtained a drop item or encountered rare minerals or treasures, magic stones were their currency.
Leon also needed to save money. As he grew stronger, he would need to pay for better weapons, armor, and even elixirs and tools. He couldn't rely on the sponsorship of his Familia companions forever.
"Even a mosquito's leg is meat. For now, I'll rely on this to make money. No matter how small, it must be picked up."
Having steeled his resolve once more, Leon, equipped with sword and shield, walked deeper into the pale blue corridor.
In the time that followed, Leon encountered monsters at regular intervals. Sometimes it was one, sometimes two or three; every encounter turned into a battle in an instant, making them virtually unavoidable. The types of monsters weren't all Goblins either; sometimes he faced Kobolds, other times lizard-type monsters. Without exception, these monsters were all short, rarely exceeding a meter in height—total small-tier species.
These were the monsters that typically appeared on Floors 1 through 4 of the Dungeon. They were all small-tier, low-level monsters and weren't very strong. Even an ordinary human in a one-on-one situation wouldn't necessarily be killed; with proper equipment, it was easy to turn the tables. Thus, those active on Floors 1 through 4 were essentially rookie adventurers like Leon who had just debuted—even those with a Falna wouldn't be much stronger than an ordinary person.
When encountering these monsters, Leon strictly followed his pre-made plan. If the monster was of a type he was meeting for the first time, and it was alone so he wouldn't be swarmed, he wouldn't rush to kill it. Instead, he would use his buckler to protect himself from injury while observing and analyzing the opponent's combat patterns. Only after fully understanding their movements and strength would he strike to finish them off.
If he encountered multiple monsters, he would immediately put his back to a wall to avoid being flanked, keeping all enemies within his field of vision. He would block their attacks with his shield while waiting for an opening, aiming to eliminate one enemy with a single strike to gradually overcome the numerical disadvantage and handle the threat safely.
It had to be said that the quality of Leon's weapons and armor was truly impressive. While high-level adventurers might look down on them, in a place like Floors 1 through 4 of the Dungeon, they were essentially divine artifacts. His shield didn't sustain so much as a scratch no matter how many times it was struck by Goblins or Kobolds, and his straight sword could sever monster flesh without much effort, allowing him to hunt his enemies with a single strike most of the time.
Monster skin and flesh were quite tough; if he were using the cheap, standard-issue gear from the Guild worth only a thousand or two Valis, wanting to take off a Goblin's or Kobold's head in one blow would be pure fantasy. But Leon's small straight sword, valued at eighty thousand Valis, was different. Forget taking off a monster's head; even if used to cut through stone, it could easily cleave it in two.
With this shield and sword, Leon's confidence grew significantly. Later, when he came across the passage leading to the 2nd Floor, he didn't hesitate much and went straight down.
Upon descending, Leon immediately noticed the difference.
"The monsters are getting stronger, and there are more of them."
The nature of the Dungeon was such that the deeper the floor, the more numerous and powerful the birthed monsters became. Even if the monsters appearing were still low-level types like Goblins and Kobolds, their strength was noticeably higher than on the floor above, and even their movement patterns changed, becoming harder to deal with.
On the 2nd Floor, the frequency of encountering lone monsters decreased significantly, while encounters with groups increased. This undoubtedly made things much harder to manage. Although his shield kept him from getting hurt and his straight sword ensured he could still kill the monsters, the drain on his physical and mental energy intensified.
Fortunately, it was still within the range Leon could handle. Eventually, he adapted to the intensity of this floor and became at ease once more. Thus, when he reached the entrance to the 3rd Floor, Leon only hesitated for a moment before continuing down.
"According to the records in the Familia library, the intensity of Floors 1 through 4 isn't very high, making them perfect for beginners. Unless an abnormal situation occurs, there generally isn't any life-threatening danger. It's only on the 5th Floor that threats sufficient to endanger a rookie adventurer appear, potentially leading to loss of life."
Leon recalled the information he had memorized about the Dungeon, thinking silently to himself.
"So, my plan this time is to roam Floors 1 through 4. At most, I'll enter the 4th Floor, but I absolutely will not enter the 5th Floor."
While his strength was still weak, Leon had no intention of being reckless. Even knowing that adventuring was beneficial for gaining high-rank excelia to grow stronger faster, Leon wouldn't gamble with his life. He might take risks in the future, but that was for another day. Right now, he was a rookie no stronger than an ordinary person; the slightest stir in the Dungeon could potentially take his precious life.
Therefore, at this stage, he absolutely could not take risks. This was the rule Leon had set for himself.
Thinking this way, however, he had forgotten one thing.
The Dungeon was alive.
It never let adventurers have their way, and it certainly never made things easy for them—
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