Chapter 195

Chapter 197: The Maiden Bowshot, Two Diner Buddies

A week passed by in serene tranquility.

After returning to Orario, Izay spent some time catching up with friends and also gave his equipment a thorough overhaul.

Then, to quickly enhance his Ability Values for leveling up, he resumed his exploration of the Dungeon.

Level 25 of the Underground Maze.

Amidst the interplay of crystal hues casting a silvery-blue glow, the roars of monsters and the sounds of adventurers battling them echoed through this cavernous space.

“ROARRRR!”

Out of nowhere, bursting through the water came a giant fish nearly two meters long.

The Fish-type Monster “Assault Giant Fish.”

Baring its jagged teeth under the silver-blue light, it lunged at two figures within the cave with ferocious intent. Its shadow splashed droplets everywhere as it aimed for them with lethal precision.

Its blood-red eyes gleamed with excitement mid-air, already envisioning a future where it had torn these humans to shreds.

“—”

“SCREEEECH!?”

However, reality often clashes with fantasy. A dark silver spear spun through the air, slicing the airborne fish into pieces.

Izay faced the monster calmly, his icy blue eyes focused on the approaching group of Metal Blue Crabs wielding crab-like iron hammers.

With no intention of engaging them directly, Izay shifted his mind and moved his enchanted spear, Yetsuma, from his right hand to his left.

Swinging the spear horizontally, several spiraling silver light bands rose from beneath him, forming a conical shape that expanded outward while simultaneously creating a magical circle beneath his feet.

His dark silver spear, Yetsuma, underwent a transformation.

Enveloped in a gentle white light, its form rapidly shrunk and changed.

Once the soft white light flickered away, Izay’s spear was gone, replaced by a silver longbow intricately engraved with mysterious runes.

With a light-hearted thought, Izay plucked the bowstring which seemed to be made of solidified light.

As the string vibrated, ripples of air disturbance appeared, scattering small sparks around it.

Not forged from any material but instead condensed from pure light, this string could never break—only requiring minimal magic power to sustain.

“SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!!”

While Izay marveled at his new weapon form, the Metal Blue Crab army drew near.

Snapping back to attention due to their unique cries and the sound of their claws scraping against the ground, Izay took a few steps back toward his teammate to create distance.

Silently raising the bow and drawing the glowing string, a magic-powered arrow immediately formed upon the bow.

He added more force, channeling additional magic power, before carefully aiming and releasing an arrow toward the advancing swarm of Metal Blue Crabs.

“—!”

The atmosphere trembled slightly.

Following the sharp slicing sound, the arrow pierced straight through the foremost Metal Blue Crab, blasting a gaping hole in its shell.

And it didn’t stop there. The arrow continued its flight unimpeded, piercing deep into the crowd of crabs.

The magic-powered arrow penetrated every Metal Blue Crab in its path before finally embedding itself into the rear crystal wall, leaving a circular mark before dissipating into particles of light.

“This power… and I only used a fraction of my strength…” Izay’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at his first trial of this new skill.

Just one shot had cleared a straight path through the horde of monsters.

In comparison to his immense magical reserves, the amount of magic consumed was negligible—just a drop in the ocean.

True low consumption, high output!

“[Arrow of Liberated Light, Bow of Sacred Wood, I am the Archer Extraordinaire.]”

Behind Izay, the clear voice of the elven girl began her incantation.

“[Snipe them! Elf Archer. Pierce them! Arrow of Certainty!]”

An orange-red magic circle expanded, weaving together complex magical spells.

“[Arc Shot]!!!”

Completing the short incantation at lightning speed, Refia’s magic circle erupted with brilliant light.

Then, the beam of light fired off.

Though originally designed as a single-shot spell emphasizing speed, thanks to Refia’s exceptional magical prowess and focus, what emerged was not just an “arrow,” but a “massive light beam.”

In another direction, the silver-blue crystal-lined corridor filled with radiant light.

A thunderous roar erupted as the massive beam struck the walls along the corridor.

Crystal shattered explosively, sending shockwaves rippling through the tunnel, obliterating all aquatic monsters caught in its path.

A couple of stragglers hiding underwater managed to survive the initial attack and launched a counterattack when the magic subsided—but were swiftly beaten back by Refia’s calm staff strikes.

Her perfectly enchanted staff had undergone a complete upgrade, enhancing not only her magical compatibility but also allowing her to use physical strikes effectively.

The ideal choice for melee mages~

Having dealt with the monsters on her side, Refia glanced over at Izay just in time to see him draw his bow and shoot down the last remaining monster.

“? ”

Tilting her head slightly to the side, Refia asked curiously, “Mr. Izay, when did you start using a bow? What happened to your spear?”

“Oh, this? It’s my new weapon. As for the spear, I’ve stored it away.” Izay briefly explained.

Upon hearing this, Refia nodded in understanding.

Izay possessed storage magic, something those close to him were well aware of.

Izay himself never intended to hide this ability from them since they were all part of his inner circle. As long as outsiders remained unaware, everything was fine.

“So what about your arrows?”

“Hmm… My bow is special; it doesn’t require pre-prepared arrows.”

“What do you mean?” Refia couldn’t comprehend.

Using a longbow without preparing arrows?

How does that even work? Is he just plucking the bowstring for fun?

“Explaining it would be a bit troublesome. Let’s save that conversation for later when we’re back on the surface. For now, let’s collect Magic Stones.”

Unfortunately, Izay had no intention of enlightening Refia at the moment.

He felt that if he explained everything here, the little elf might get overly excited again, potentially wasting a lot of unnecessary time.

So he decided to delay the explanation until they returned to the surface, where he could explain the situation to her properly.

They had reached the “Lower Levels” area, and the distance from the surface had already reached its preliminary limit.

Ordinary adventurers exploring the lower levels of Water Riddle City or training their Ability Values here typically spend an entire day just traveling to and from the lower levels. Careful exploration takes even longer.

It was precisely because Izay and Refia weren’t ordinary Level 3 adventurers that they stood apart.

Even so, their pace of exploration in Water Riddle City remained tight.

Time dictated this urgency.

After all, both of these food-loving adventurers were looking forward to having dinner at home. Could they afford to slack off?