After a night's rest, Roy was ready to head back to the dungeon.
In Babel's square, he met Ais and Lefiya, and the trio descended to the 23rd floor.
"The number and speed of monster spawns today are much lower than yesterday," Roy said, frowning after clearing monsters for a while.
"You probably killed too many yesterday, so the floor hasn't fully recovered," Lefiya guessed.
She hadn't counted Roy's kills, but based on yesterday's sold magic stones, it was over a thousand.
A thousand monsters were negligible for the entire dungeon but significant for one floor.
The dungeon, a living breeding ground for monsters, had semi-independent floors.
Spawning so many in a day strained the 23rd floor, like a sow exhausted from over birthing, needing time to recover.
Thus, today's spawn rate and numbers were down.
"When I trained here, I killed less than half as many as you did in a day," Ais said.
She hadn't anticipated this, never having pushed the floor's limits.
Despite her strength, her kill was lower than Roy's.
That didn't strain the floor, so spawns remained consistent.
"I'll need to go to a lower floor soon," Roy said, frowning.
The upper floors couldn't match the 23rd floor's spawn rate, but from the 24th onward, water dominated the terrain.
The 25th to 27th floors, the lower floors, were called the Water City by adventurers, with most monsters being weak to Roy and water-based.
"What?" Roy asked, noticing her pause.
"There's a place on the 37th floor where monsters spawn endlessly," Ais said after a moment.
"The 37th floor? The Colosseum?" Lefiya gasped.
"Colosseum?" Roy asked, intrigued, as Ais nodded.
"It's what we call a special area on the 37th floor," Lefiya explained.
"Like a colosseum, when one wave of monsters is cleared, another rushes in from elsewhere, endlessly, until the adventurers are overwhelmed."
"That sounds perfect," Roy said, eyes gleaming.
The Colosseum was ideal for farming monsters, ranking up, and completing tasks.
"Perfect? It's a death trap for adventurers!" Lefiya snapped, baffled by his enthusiasm for such a dangerous spot.
"No, it's exactly what I need," Roy said, grinning.
"Let's hit the 37th floor tomorrow."
As Ais moved to agree, Lefiya cut in, "No way! Miss Ais, the 37th floor is a deep floor."
"Going there is like a mini-expedition. If Captain Finn finds out, we'll be punished!"
"Keep it secret," Ais said calmly.
"We'll say we're earning money in the middle floors."
The radiant Sword Princess she admired seemed to crumble.
Lying? Yet, somehow, this made Ais feel more approachable.
"Lefiya, I want to go with Roy to the 37th floor," Ais said, her eyes pleading.
"I… fine!" Lefiya sighed, her heart melting under Ais's gaze.
She shot Roy a fierce glare, wondering what spell he'd cast to sway Ais.
"Thanks, Lefiya," Ais said.
"But we need full preparations for the 37th floor. Our team can't guarantee safety in the deep floors," Lefiya said seriously.
The monsters there were mostly Level 4, and guild rules required Level 4 teams of at least five for safe routes.
Deviating, even first-class adventurers needed three or more for safety.
The Colosseum was one of the floor's deadliest areas.
"We'll only hunt outside the Colosseum, so we can retreat easily," Lefiya added, worried Roy might rashly charge into its center—a place even first-class adventurers avoided.
"I don't have deep dungeon experience, so I'll leave supplies to you two. Buy as much as possible; I can carry them," Roy said.
"Great, you can take this backpack tomorrow," Lefiya said, her face lighting up.
She'd hated lugging the heavy thing, especially as a mage reduced to a supporter.
"No way, too heavy," Roy said, shaking his head.
He bent down, touching a large boulder nearby. It vanished.
Lefiya and Ais stared, stunned.
"What just happened? Where's the boulder?" they asked.
"I awakened a storage ability. Now I can carry supplies," Roy explained, tossing the boulder out of his space.
"Space magic?!" Ais asked, eyeing him.
Roy had mentioned testing teleportation magic before, but now he had similar ability.
"Space magic? That's supposed to be a myth!" Lefiya said, incredulous.
No one in Orario, not even among elves, had mastered such magic.
"Wait!" Lefiya huffed, glaring.
"You had this magic and still made me carry that heavy backpack?"
"I only awakened it last night during my status update," Roy shrugged.
Lefiya fell silent, still aggrieved.
Not just the backpack, but Roy's casual mention of awakening rare magic made her, a hardworking mage, feel inadequate.
Ais's eyes shone with envy. Such magic would let her train in the dungeon for ages.
"Anyway, handle the supplies. Get as much as you can," Roy said.
"No problem, but I'll need a handling fee," Lefiya said, eyes gleaming, happy to get one over on Roy.
Instead of farming more on the 23rd floor, Roy crossed the Water City to the 28th floor, where most monsters were Level 3.
Ais wasn't as familiar here, so Roy cleared a few hundred monsters before returning to the surface early to prepare supplies.
After handing the magic stones and drop items to Lefiya, Roy went to Hephaestus's shop, where Hestia updated his status.
"Your basic abilities all hit 2,000. You've reached Level 1's limit."
Even Endurance, previously the lowest, reached 2,000, indicating the cap, as other stats didn't exceed it.
"So I can rank up?" Roy asked.
"Of course," Hestia smiled.
"You know adventurers may gain a development ability when ranking up, right?"
"You didn't rank me up right away. Are there multiple development abilities?"
"Exactly!" Hestia said. "You have four options."
"First is Swordsman, perfect for you. It boosts sword skill power, speed, strength, and accuracy."
"Second is Hunter, triggered by killing many monsters quickly."
"It strengthens you against dungeon monsters, a rare ability for dungeon-focused adventurers."
"Third is Abnormal Resistance. You know its effects," Hestia said, her expression turning complex. "The fourth is Blacksmith."
"Blacksmith?" Roy looked surprised.
"Right. I don't get it. You're no blacksmith!" Hestia grumbled.
"Isn't that great?" Hephaestus's voice chimed in.
She emerged from the basement, smiling slightly. "Roy, join my familia?"
"Hephaestus!" Hestia snapped.
Her friend was trying to poach her only member.
"Don't yell," Hephaestus said, exasperated.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but can't you be more discreet when updating his Falna?"
"No one's around, so I'll keep it secret," Hestia said.
"I'm right here," Hephaestus said, rubbing her temples.
"I mentioned yesterday—you don't avoid me. At least use a room upstairs!"
Hestia blushed. "You're not an outsider!"
"Then give me Roy?" Hephaestus teased.
"No way!" Hestia refused.
"Blacksmith is rare. Even in my familia, few have it," Hephaestus said playfully. "Hestia, don't worry. I'll train Roy well."
Hestia's eyes narrowed, darting between Hephaestus and Roy.
"You seduced him when you first met, didn't you?"
Hephaestus's face darkened.
She marched over, pinching Hestia's cheek. "What was that?!"
"I… I was wrong! Stop pinching, Hephaestus!" Hestia wailed, tears forming as she begged for mercy.
Rubbing her cheek, Hestia muttered, "I'm not wrong. Roy's drawn to goddesses. It must've started when he met you."
Hephaestus sighed, rubbing her brow.
Hestia's guess wasn't entirely baseless.
Read advance chapters at:
200 Stones = 1 chapter
400 Stones = 2 chapter