The Dungeon is divided by fixed floor boundaries, where the terrain and its properties undergo distinct changes.
For example, Floors 1 through 4 primarily consist of pale blue walls forming various corridors. The terrain is not considered complex; the Guild and various exploration-type familias possess maps of these levels. As long as one follows the correct route on the map, it is impossible to get lost, and one can accurately find the entrances and exits leading further down.
Starting from the 5th Floor, the Dungeon's appearance shifts to pale green walls, and its internal structure becomes more intricate. Going a bit deeper reveals square, open spaces known as "rooms," which are common features throughout the Dungeon.
The 7th Floor, in particular, contains many such rooms. Its overall layout consists of crisscrossing pale green underground passages, with rooms connecting at intersections or dead ends. Generally speaking, it is much more complex than Floors 1 through 4, but the spaces are more open, making it more conducive to combat.
Of course, that conclusion only considers the terrain.
In reality, the environment here favors monsters far more than adventurers.
This is because, starting from the 7th Floor, the Dungeon introduces a monster known as the Killer Ant. Along with the War Shadow of the 6th Floor, they are known as "Newbie Killers," posing extreme danger to novice adventurers.
Not only do they possess incredibly hard shells—so tough that low-quality weapons might not even leave a white scratch on them—but their front limbs also feature four developed, curved claws. Their attack power is incomparable to low-level monsters like Goblins or Kobolds; even an adventurer wearing armor can have their body pierced, resulting in fatal wounds.
Even if an ordinary adventurer is not lacking in skill, if they do not have high-quality weapons or armor in hand, the result of facing a Killer Ant is usually the same: they are struck by the sharp claws and gravely injured before they can even break through that hard carapace. They end up sleeping forever in the Dungeon, never to see the light of the surface again.
The abilities of these monsters differ significantly from the opponents found before the 7th Floor. Adventurers who have grown accustomed to the difficulty of the upper floors often fall one by one, becoming food for these creatures after letting their guard down.
Yet, that is not the most terrifying thing about the Killer Ants.
The most terrifying thing about a Killer Ant is its ability to call for reinforcements.
When a Killer Ant is in danger, it emits a pheromone-like substance imperceptible to adventurers, attracting all nearby kin to its location.
In other words, when facing Killer Ants on the 7th Floor, it is essentially impossible to engage in one-on-one combat as one might have on the floors above.
On the 7th Floor, the monsters encountered by adventurers are almost always in swarms.
Here, facing a relentless, closing tide of monster armies is the norm. Consequently, upon reaching the 7th Floor, adventurers usually need to form parties. Aside from high-level adventurers whose strength far exceeds the upper floors, it is very difficult for a novice to fight solo here.
Despite this, on this day, a lone rookie adventurer stood in a pale green room illuminated by phosphorescence, challenging a legion of Killer Ants by himself.
"Screee!"
"Screee-ch!"
Amidst a chorus of sharp, ear-piercing shrieks—a sound as grating as fingernails clawing on glass—huge ants covered in chitinous shells crawled from the surrounding tunnels. They moved on four slender legs, their two thin, sharp claws and large eyes flashing with a crimson, predatory light.
Each one was roughly the size of a Pallum. Their bodies were entirely red, and as they appeared, they rubbed their mouthparts together, making a rhythmic clicking sound as if they were chewing on something, which was deeply unsettling to hear.
Standing in the midst of this wave of unpleasant noise, Leon's expression remained exceptionally calm. Holding a small straight sword in one hand and a small shield in the other, he met the enemy's assault.
Bang!
A Killer Ant reared up and swung its sharp claw, striking Leon's raised shield and creating a dull thud accompanied by sparks.
Leon used the shield to shove the ant back forcefully, his feet moving swiftly in a retreat to dodge two more ants lunging from his left and right. He maintained distance from the encroaching swarm.
"Screee!"
Several Killer Ants climbed the walls, attacking from the sides and even attempting to circle behind Leon to flank him.
Leon's eyes darted constantly. Even with enemies attacking from the front, he did not focus his attention entirely in one direction. Instead, he used his vision to rapidly track the surroundings, keeping every approaching enemy within his sight.
"Screee!"
Finally, a Killer Ant that had climbed onto the ceiling pounced. Its sharp forelimbs glinted coldly, leaving no doubt that a single strike could pierce a human skull.
But the moment it leaped, Leon moved.
In the palm of his left hand, which gripped the small shield, he had somehow produced a stone. He threw it with great force, launching it at the falling ant.
Thwack!
The stone hit its mark, knocking the Killer Ant out of the air and sending it tumbling into the middle of the swarm.
Having dealt with the surprise attack, Leon quickly dashed toward the area where the ants were fewest. He braced his shield, ramming through two ants in his path while swinging a slashing blow at another behind them.
Squelch!
A flash of cold light followed. The small straight sword easily decapitated the Killer Ant, sending blood spraying across the ground.
When dealing with Killer Ants, the best method is an instant kill, giving the creature no chance to call its companions.
Their hard shells are indeed difficult to penetrate, but if one aims for the gaps in the armor and attacks the soft flesh within, an instant kill is achievable.
For a rookie, aiming for these gaps is certainly no simple task. However, if the weapon in hand is sharp enough to break through the shell itself, that difficulty can be ignored.
Conveniently, the small straight sword in Leon's hand—worth 80,000 Valis—was capable of exactly that, allowing him to effortlessly pry open the shells and take their heads.
"Screee! Screee!"
Seeing their companion killed, the remaining ants grew fuLeonus and lunged forward without hesitation.
Leon did not linger in the fight. After every strike, regardless of whether it landed, he would move away quickly, never giving the ants a chance to surround him or cut off his path of retreat.
At times he lunged forward, using his shield to deflect claws and push bodies aside before cutting down an isolated ant with his sword. At other times, he retreated rapidly or even turned to run, re-establishing distance from the swarm before resetting his stance and striking at the weakest point of the group.
Using hit-and-run tactics, Leon persistently kited the large group of ants. Occasionally, he would scoop up a stone or two from the ground and hurl them, smashing the heads of the ants to leave them dazed and disoriented.
When he saw ants climbing the walls or ceiling, Leon stayed far away. If an ant pounced from above, he either blocked with his shield or slashed them away mid-air. Occasionally, he would even launch a kick to send a lunging ant flying. The combat was unpretentious and practical, yet he steadily accumulated results, slowly thinning the number of monsters.
"Screeeee—!"
After a long while, the few remaining ants sensed the tide turning and began to panic. They reared their upper bodies and rubbed their mouthparts, emitting a high-pitched, piercing cry.
This was the Killer Ants calling for their kin.
"Don't even think about it!"
Leon naturally wouldn't give them the chance.
"Light of the Heavens, Sword of the Stars."
The fluent incantation flowed from Leon's lips.
"Meteor Dance!"
Several shooting stars flew from Leon's hand, transforming into fleeting flashes of starlight. Trailing long tails of light, they pierced through the remaining Killer Ants one after another.
The last of the ants had their heads shattered or their bodies bored through by the meteors. Their bodies stiffened, unable to make another sound.
A few seconds later, they slowly collapsed, all signs of life extinguished before the adventurer they had tried to swarm.
"Huff... huff..."
Maintaining his magic-casting posture, Leon panted slightly. After a moment, he lowered his guard and calmed his heartbeat and breathing.
"Managed to get through that without any accidents."
Muttering to himself, Leon wiped the sweat from his forehead. He raised his sword and walked toward the pile of carcasses to begin collecting their magic stones.
It had been ten days since Leon received the Grace of the Gods and officially joined the Loki Familia.
Two days ago, Leon had reached the 7th Floor and begun his adventures there.
Compared to rookies who might spend half a month on the upper floors building experience before daring to step into the 5th Floor, this pace was undoubtedly much faster.
Yet, even so, Leon had still not updated his status. He had reached this floor with all his ability proficiencies sitting at zero.
"Hello, I'd like to exchange these magic stones for currency."
In front of the long queue at the exchange center in Babel, Leon poured out the magic stones he had collected from his bag and handed them to the Guild's appraiser.
A closer look revealed a clear difference between these stones and the nail-sized fragments from before; these were significantly larger. Magic stones of this size were considered "complete" rather than mere shards.
Naturally, the price for such stones was much higher.
"That will be 22,000 Valis in total. Please take it."
A heavy coin purse was handed to Leon, filled with glittering gold coins.
Leon ignored the stares from the surrounding adventurers. Clutching the purse, he walked out of the exchange center with a neutral expression.
In ten days, his earning capacity had nearly doubled. While this was certainly something to be happy about, Leon wasn't particularly focused on the money today.
What he was looking forward to was something else entirely.
Finally, it was time to update his status.
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