Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Shall we explore the areas ahead later? Adventurers…

Raoul Nord, titled the ‘Extraordinary Gentleman’.

However, his ability values are anything but extraordinary, even to the point of being described as mundane.

Not a single skill, not a single magic.

Just purely, his basic ability values have reached Level 4.

While this might sound a bit rude, in reality, based on Raoul’s personal ability values, when facing other Level 4 adventurers of the same rank, apart from combat experience, he probably wouldn’t gain any advantage.

Using Izay’s favorite gaming terminology, he is essentially just a super soldier without any skills or ultimate moves.

The girls at The Bountiful Mistress tavern could probably beat him up easily.

After all, in that tavern, except for Shil Frova, everyone is around Level 4, and they’re all strong Level 4s.

So it’s no surprise that Raoul envies Izay for having magic.

But this remark leaves Izay unsure how to respond.

Because it feels like whatever he says at this moment would be inappropriate.

However, Izay doesn’t have much time to dwell on it, as Raoul notices something unusual nearby.

“By the way, what’s that yellow barrier surrounding you? It looks like you’re trapped inside a bubble?”

After picking up the fallen magic stones, Raoul approaches Izay, unable to resist poking the bright yellow energy barrier surrounding his body out of curiosity.

“This? This is a shield, an extra effect after casting magic. It can last for a while and help me withstand attacks.”

Izay tries to explain using words that Raoul can understand.

Pillars of the Rock King plus the shield; Izay spent the entire night yesterday tinkering with this magic.

It took him the whole night, even with references, to barely complete this magic.

The initial method of raising rock pillars actually uses his ability to manipulate earth elements.

Afterward, the rock pillars emit a powerful shockwave, which either knocks enemies away and severely injures them or bestows a strong rock-element shield upon allies based on Izay’s judgment.

“Attack and defense simultaneously? That’s amazing～makes me envy you even more…”

Toolman Raoul once again laments our differences.

…………

Afterward, things become rather monotonous.

Encounter monsters, kill monsters, encounter, kill, encounter…

Life inside the dungeon, summed up, is about encountering monsters and killing them.

Perhaps some people can find adventure through the rewards brought by monsters.

But most of the time, it brings the fear of life and death teetering on the edge of danger.

After crossing the fourth floor, the monsters start dropping complete magic stones.

Although small, compared to the tiny stone fragments from the first four floors, these are already a leap forward.

Besides magic stones, Izay and Raoul also harvested quite a few ‘dropped items.’

‘Dropped items’ refer to materials that don’t disappear even after the monster dies; mostly parts of the monster itself, with a relatively rare occurrence rate.

All without exception, these are rare items that can be used to forge weapons and equipment, even medicines and magical artifacts.

Loved by craftsmen in Orario, they are also priced quite high.

“Am I imagining things? Why does it feel like the drop rate of items in the dungeon today is unusually high?”

Once again collecting a dropped item, Raoul questions his existence.

In the past, when he entered the dungeon, he could collect only a few dropped items per trip.

Now, with Izay, they haven’t even returned yet, and the collected dropped items have already filled one slot in their backpack.

Supporters’ backpacks have divided sections inside, after all, you can’t just stuff everything together.

Medicines, magic stones, dropped items, spare weapon knives, etc., are strictly divided into different areas.

Otherwise, if you encounter injuries or weapon damage, rummaging through your backpack for half a day and still not finding what you need would be embarrassing.

Just declare GG directly.

“Is that so? I don’t really feel that way?”

After eliminating the last battle shadow from the previous group of monsters, Izay looks over curiously, lacking a clear concept about this matter.

This is already the sixth floor, whether it’s the strength or quantity of monsters, there has been a noticeable increase.

However, it’s still within the range Izay can handle.

Gradually exploring in battle, Izay’s skill ‘Heart of the Earth’ begins to gradually show its effects.

‘Heart of the Earth’:

· When touching the ground, automatically recover stamina and spirit

· In combat mode, strength and durability greatly increase

During every battle, you can clearly feel the enhancement of your own strength.

As for automatic recovery of stamina and spirit,

Izay finds it hard to describe that feeling.

If he must say, it’s probably similar to standing on a fountain? Just that this fountain covers a larger area and recovers slower?

“Izay, isn’t this your first time in the dungeon? It would be strange to have such feelings about these things, right?”

Raoul drops a soulful question.

“……That’s true.”

“The entrance to the seventh floor should be ahead if I’m not mistaken. How about we check it out?”

On the journey, perhaps also noticing Izay’s relaxed demeanor, Raoul, who originally planned to bring him back after exploring around the fourth floor, now proactively suggests moving forward.

“Eh? I thought at this point you’d say something like ‘Let’s stop here for today, let’s explore the areas ahead next time.'”

Seemingly hearing an unexpected response, Izay can’t help but tease.

“Uh…… Although I don’t know why you would think that, I undoubtedly sense the malice contained in your words. That’s definitely not a good thing.”

“Misunderstanding～misunderstanding～how could I slander a senior member of the faction? Right?”

“……”

Chatting casually, the two pass through the staircase at the end of the sixth floor.

“Crack——！！！”

Upon arriving at the seventh floor, the walls crack open again, and monsters begin to form from dark red energy.

Could this be a welcoming gesture for the two seniors entering the seventh floor?

This time, the wall cracking is particularly vast, almost covering the entire wall at once.

One after another, heart-stopping monsters emerge.

Four legs, two thin arms, and large eyes, their completely red bodies make one inevitably think of ants.

Unlike ordinary ants, their bodies are roughly human-sized, and starting from a slender waist, their upper bodies stand upright as if raising their heads.