Fifteen days had passed since Su Lun joined the Astraea Familia.
During those fifteen days, the training ground of the Starlight Court had practically become Su Lun's second bedroom. Every morning, before the sun had even crested the horizon, his silhouette could be seen in the courtyard practicing the fundamentals of swordplay. Afternoons were dedicated to the refinement of magical control, while evenings were spent in live combat drills against Alise or Lyu.
The speed of his growth left even the Goddess, who witnessed it all, in a state of disbelief.
On the morning of the fifteenth day, inside the Divine Chamber.
Astraea's fingers lightly brushed the glowing Falna on Su Lun's back. Her sea-blue eyes widened slightly as the sacred text updated.
"Strength: G-315, Endurance: G-231, Dexterity: G-298, Agility: G-307, Magic: E-412…"
She whispered the values, her voice thick with wonder. "It has only been fifteen days."
She looked up, watching Su Lun as he pulled on his shirt. Over the past half-month, the boy's physique had filled out noticeably. His once-pale complexion had been tanned to a healthy bronze by the sun of the training grounds. But the most significant change was in his eyes—the confusion and caution of a stranger had been replaced by the sharp, quiet resolve of a warrior.
"Your growth rate is rare, even within the long memories of the Gods," Astraea said, putting away the parchment. Her tone was gentle but earnest. "It isn't just the leap in your status. Lyu told me that your instincts in battle, the way you utilize your spells, and even the speed of your swordplay are far beyond the norm."
She stepped toward Su Lun, reaching out to straighten his slightly disheveled collar, much like an older sister caring for a younger brother.
"Lady Astraea," Su Lun said, looking up slightly to make it easier for her. "It's all thanks to your guidance and everyone else's."
"Just call me 'Sister,'" the Goddess smiled, a warm light shining in her eyes. "In private, there's no need to be so formal. After all, watching a child grow at this speed is a joyful thing."
Su Lun blinked, stunned for a moment. Then, he smiled back. "Alright, Sister."
Over the past two weeks, he had truly come to see this gentle, wise Goddess as family. She was the one who brought him special herbal tea when he over-trained, the one who listened patiently when he felt lost in this different world, and the one who beamed with heartfelt pride whenever he made progress.
"Are you going down with Alise and Lyu again today?" Astraea asked.
"Yes. We plan to scout the tenth floor again. If we're in good shape, I might try some adaptation training on the eleventh," Su Lun nodded. "I want to get used to the environment down there as quickly as possible."
"Stay safe," the Goddess's tone turned serious. "You are growing fast, but do not take unnecessary risks because of it. Lyu and Alise care for you deeply—don't make them worry too much."
"I understand."
The Dungeon, Tenth Floor.
The frost-fog still lingered, but this time, Su Lun walked in the middle of the group with an air far more composed than a week prior.
"Speaking of which, Su Lun, you really are a fast learner!" Alise laughed, looking back as she led the way. "That side-step dodge-into-counter combo I taught you the day before yesterday? You were already doing it better than me yesterday!"
"It's because you're a good teacher, Alise," Su Lun said. It was the truth. Alise's teaching style was enthusiastic and direct; she always knew exactly how to hit the key points.
"And you're even cracking jokes now!" Alise's eyes sparkled. "Yesterday you actually told me, 'If Teacher Alise keeps being this strict, I won't help you taste-test your new snacks next time'—wow, you wouldn't have said that when you first arrived!"
"It is a good thing," Lyu spoke up from the rear. "It is not just your strength that is growing, but the way you interact with your companions."
Her voice was steady as ever, but those who knew her could hear a faint softness in it.
Su Lun had indeed relaxed a lot this week. During training breaks, he would discuss which bakery in Orario had the best honey pies with Alise, or joke that Lyu's eyes were more accurate than a ruler when she corrected his sword stance. He would even occasionally act a bit spoiled with the Goddess, saying things like, "Sister, you're too strict!"
Though he always felt a bit embarrassed after saying it, he felt more like a boy of his age now. When he first arrived, he had a tense sense of detachment, Lyu thought to herself. He's finally letting his guard down.
Suddenly, a strange noise echoed through the fog. It wasn't just a few stragglers; it was a dense, chaotic cacophony of footsteps, roars, and slithering sounds rushing in from all directions.
"Bad news!" Alise's voice tightened. "A Monster Party! And it's a big one!"
The frost-fog swirled violently as countless shadows moved within it. Goblins, Earth Spirits, War Shadows, Orcs, Imps… monsters from different floors were all mixed together. There were over sixty of them, with even more pouring down from the upper passages.
"This is a phenomenon that happens randomly starting from the tenth floor," Lyu explained quickly, her wooden sword already in hand. "A mass spawn of monsters all at once. Su Lun, status of your mana?"
"Full." Su Lun stepped forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Alise. "And I have a new idea."
He closed his eyes, the Abyssal Grimoire unfolding in his mind. The past few days of combat had refined his mana control and deepened his understanding of his spells. Inside the grimoire, a second-tier spell model lit up: Spike Growth.
"Cover me for three seconds," Su Lun said, his voice cold and calm. "I need to set the stage."
"Got it!" Alise and Lyu responded in unison.
The two flanked him. Alise's sword erupted in flames while Lyu's wooden sword traced precise arcs, knocking back the first wave of lunging monsters. They didn't aim for the kill, focusing instead on creating a temporary buffer zone.
Su Lun pressed both hands to the floor, mana surging into the bedrock like a tide.
"Spike Growth!"
The ground within a twenty-meter radius began to warp. From the hard rock surface, countless sharp thorns erupted as if they were alive. They weren't tall, but they were incredibly dense—each one as sharp as a blade, interlacing to form a field of deathly briars.
The spell was complete.
"Get behind me," Su Lun said.
Alise and Lyu retreated instantly. Almost the moment they cleared the area, the lead monsters trampled into the zone of Spike Growth.
In the next heartbeat, agonizing shrieks filled the passage. The thorns weren't immediately lethal, but they were razor-sharp. The monsters' thick footpads, hooves, and even belly scales were pierced and sliced open the moment they stepped on them. As they struggled in pain, they only caused more thorns to carve into their flesh.
Blood quickly stained the ground. The monsters behind them, oblivious to the danger, continued to surge forward, only to repeat the same fate. Su Lun had precisely controlled the area; the safe zone where he and his companions stood was clearly demarcated from the field of death.
"This…" Alise gasped, watching the monsters struggle and trample each other in the briars. "This is too efficient…"
"A terrain-control spell," Su Lun explained, a light sweat forming on his brow. Maintaining a second-tier spell over such a large area was manageable, but he couldn't keep it up forever. "They either have to retreat or climb over the corpses of their kin. By the time they reach us, their combat strength will be decimated."
Sure enough, the smarter monsters began trying to circle around or retreat. But there were too many; the ones in the back pushed the ones in the front. In the chaos, over forty monsters were trapped within the thorny area.
"About twenty left coming from the flanks," Lyu observed the battlefield. "We can handle this."
"Yeah." Su Lun nodded and dismissed the spell. The thorns receded back into the rock, leaving behind a floor littered with magic stones and dissolving monster corpses. The remaining fight was much easier.
Just as Alise was about to collect the loot, the ground shook violently. This wasn't coming from above or below; it was coming from the direction of the eleventh floor—but the vibration was laced with a heart-pounding shriek that was unlike any normal dragon's roar.
"That sound…" Lyu's face paled. "No… that's not a normal Baby Dragon!"
ROAR—!!!
The shriek tore through the air, carrying a malicious aura that felt like a mix of searing heat and bone-chilling cold. At the end of the passage, a massive shadow was approaching at a terrifying speed. It was nothing like the Red-Scaled Baby Dragons described in the records. It was a size larger, over six meters in length, nearly filling the wide corridor.
Its scales were no longer a bright red, but a dark crimson like rotting blood. The dragon horns on its forehead, which should have been straight, were twisted and bifurcated like dead tree branches. Most chilling was its body—in several places, the scales were covered by an irregular, metallic or keratinous growth that shimmered with an ominous, dull luster. Its tail didn't end in the usual mace, but in a hooked venomous stinger shaped like a giant scorpion's tail.
"A variant…" Lyu's voice was tense to the limit. "And it's a variant that has been catalyzed by the Dungeon in an extremely malicious way. Su Lun, Alise—find an opening to retreat immediately!"
However, the other end of the passage was completely blocked by the remnants of the monster horde. Trapped between them, they were in a death trap.
"We have to fight," Su Lun said, his right hand firmly gripping the hilt of the Stream-vein shortsword. "Miss Lyu, Alise, I'll try to create an opening. Aim for its vitals."
The variant dragon's breath began to charge. It was a viscous breath of dark red mixed with violet-black—a slurry of lava and potent acid!
"Scatter!" The three of them dove in three different directions.
As Su Lun rolled to his feet, instead of retreating, he lunged forward, raising his left hand toward the dragon's gaping maw.
"Ray of Frost!"
A thin but exceptionally condensed beam of pale white frost shot precisely into the back of the dragon's mouth! The extreme cold met the searing corrosive energy in the dragon's throat, triggering a violent energy conflict and backlash!
"GAHHH—!!!" The dragon let out a pained, distorted shriek. It seized up in a moment of paralysis and imbalance.
Now! Su Lun lunged toward the dragon like an arrow. On his mana-conducting shortsword, blue-white lightning suddenly flickered into existence.
"Thunderous Blade!"
Su Lun gripped the sword with both hands and, facing the lurching dragon head, delivered an all-out lightning uppercut!
CRACK-BOOM—!!!
Blue-white electricity erupted violently the moment the blade connected with the dragon's head! The massive recoil caused the skin between Su Lun's thumb and forefinger to split, staining the hilt red with blood. His body was thrown backward uncontrollably.
The dragon's head was knocked aside by the force, slamming hard into the rock wall. The lightning energy surged from the point of contact into the dragon's brain, causing its movements to become visibly uncoordinated.
This bought Su Lun the most precious window for a finishing move. He rolled to his feet almost the instant he hit the ground, locking onto the dragon's mouth, which was hanging open in a pained roar.
He pushed a first-tier spell beyond its limits.
"Jim's Magic Missile—Metamagic: Empowered! Maximize!"
He poured all his remaining mana and his desperate resolve into the spell! Seven orbs of light, radiating terrifying energy fluctuations, shot out from his left palm in rapid succession like a Gatling gun!
The first and second entered the wound in the dragon's upper palate and exploded; the third and fourth tore into its throat; the final three followed the path of destruction, burrowing into the brain near the cranial cavity—
And detonated.
"Guh…" The dragon's berserk body suddenly froze. The clouded gold vertical pupils quickly lost their light. The massive head lost all strength and slammed heavily onto the ground.
THUD—!!!
the massive dark-red body went completely still. The passage fell into a deathly silence.
Su Lun knelt on one knee, gasping for air, his face as white as paper. That final strike had drained every last drop of his energy.
Lyu and Alise rushed over. Lyu reached Su Lun first and, to his shock, she raised her hand and gave him a sharp, but measured, slap across the face.
Smack.
Su Lun looked up in a daze. Lyu's emerald eyes were shimmering with a clear, wet luster.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!" Lyu's voice trembled. "Why did you do something so… something so terrifying that it makes my heart want to stop?!"
Lyu's voice cracked with a sob, and she abruptly turned her face away. The usually powerful and reliable "Gale" looked like a terrified older sister.
Alise also hugged Su Lun tightly from behind. "You idiot, Su Lun! I was scared to death too! You are never allowed to do that again!"
Surrounded by the two of them, a deep sense of guilt washed over Su Lun. He had only thought about winning, forgetting that his adventure wasn't just his own anymore.
"I'm sorry, Miss Lyu, Alise. I was reckless. I won't take risks like that again."
Lyu sniffled, then turned to efficiently dismantle the dragon's corpse. She pulled out a massive magic stone pulsing with power and handed it to Su Lun.
"Your trophy. To lead the kill against a variant monster like this as a Level 1… this is, without a doubt, a Great Feat."
She looked at Su Lun, her eyes swirling with complex emotions. Finally, she said softly, "Let's go back. You need to rest. Lady Astraea will be worried."
"Yeah. Let's go home."
This time, Su Lun walked between the two of them. Alise held his arm, while Lyu checked on his condition every few minutes.
────────────────────────────────────────
My : https://p*tre*n.com/Noctra418
Danmachi: My Magic Style is Different from Yours (43 Chapters – Ongoing)
────────────────────────────────────────