Chapter 81: Arriving at the First Death Line! Monster Siege
Lili had already picked up all the magic stones and dropped items. The mechanism mist that had enveloped the current area gradually dissipated. There was no reason to linger. As the leader of the Familia expedition.
Liam decisively led the team deeper. When they arrived at the 12th-floor area, he wasn't lucky enough to encounter the boss, the Young Dragon, again.
The monsters encountered during this time.
Were, of course, dealt with casually. These stronger monsters provided a noticeable increase in experience points upon defeat.
The overall advance was relatively steady.
Reaching the end of the 12th-floor area, Liam looked at the guide, Lili, and then asked, "From here on... is it the middle levels?"
"That's right."
"The First Death Line. The Dungeon's difficulty will undergo its first qualitative change here. The monsters that appear later will use magic-like ranged attacks."
During the time waiting for the Familia expedition, Lili certainly hadn't been idle.
Following the Adventurer's Guild's staff member, Eina, she had grasped information on various types of monsters in the middle levels to provide assistance at critical moments.
"Hellhounds and Al-mi'raj are the more common monsters on the current floors."
From the perspective of a hired party, Kashima's current mood could only be described as complicated. Mainly because the amount of information in this conversation was overwhelming.
They were about to begin exploring the middle levels.
And Liam, as the team's commander, his current appearance was like that of... a new adventurer who had never explored the current area before?
"?"
"Liam, who is also a Level 2 adventurer, has never reached the middle levels before!"
This thought arose simultaneously in the minds of the Takemikazuchi Familia members, but when this idea emerged, it was more of disbelief.
It couldn't be…
That he had relied on the "Monster Party" training method to quickly break through his adventurer level?
An adventurer who had only explored and developed in the current upper levels, yet possessed such strength now – this was what they found even harder to understand!
Not minding Kashima and the others' strange gazes.
Through Lili's explanation of the upcoming monsters, after a simple understanding of their characteristics, Liam, filled with anticipation, decisively gave the command.
"Let's go."
"For normal exploration, safety is the priority."
He said this mainly considering the feelings of the Takemikazuchi Familia. Secondly, it was to test the monsters of the middle levels and the experience points provided after killing them.
If it was still considerable, then the next exploration area could start from here.
Completing the Adventurer's Guild's compulsory expedition was certainly important, but appropriately slowing down his pace would allow his own ability scores and Sword Soul level to improve!
"...Alright."
When the words "for normal exploration, safety is the priority" came out of Liam's mouth, Kashima's mood could only be described as absurd, his eyelids twitching wildly.
He really couldn't tell if this was him being considerate of his other teammates…
Or if Liam, who used Monster Parties for training, was no different from an ordinary adventurer when facing an unknown environment upon arriving in the Dungeon's middle levels.
In the final analysis, it was still consideration for them as supporters.
Kashima took a deep breath to calm himself, his tone frank, "From the perspective of a hired party, I'm very happy you're considering the whole team."
He didn't get a reply from Liam.
Lili looked up at Kashima Ouka, this Lv2 adventurer. She really didn't want to pull the rug out from under Liam. If she were to speak according to his style.
She really wanted to complain.
"Don't be so quick to be happy!"
The passage leading to the "First Death Line," the floor environment didn't change significantly, still mainly caves. The real difference was the floor's height.
Stepping into a brand-new area, Liam was also filled with anticipation.
Having experienced the Monster Party just now, the Sword Soul template's level was about to reach 28. Also, with two upper-level adventurers in the team.
He briefly surveyed the surroundings.
The visual environment was much better than on the 11th-12th floors. The blue lantern fruit on the walls provided faint illumination, so visibility wasn't that poor. "Let's start from here…"
"."
Not minding Kashima and Mikoto behind him, this exploration-style Dungeon training would allow him to master more skills in battle.
In different situations, the choice of method would naturally be different.
Relying on the sword aura attached to "Secret Sword Art" had already become a method of abandoning technique, purely using powerful stats to crush monsters.
As the user of the template, Liam naturally controlled his use of sword aura.
He held his short sword in one hand, following Lili's guidance to open a path for the team. And as they passed a cave corner and arrived at a wider passage.
In the distance ahead, monster figures gradually came into view.
A new Dungeon creature.
"Hellhound."
Although a canine, its physique was no different from a small calf. Its entire body was covered in black skin, and its head was quite ferocious.
Compared to the name Hellhound, calling it an "Arsonist Monster" would be more appropriate.
This was also the main reason why adventurer teams were basically wiped out in the 13th-14th floor areas; they were adept at using magic-like ranged attacks.
With the attraction of the team's footsteps.
More and more Hellhounds were drawn to Liam's adventurer team. Although the number wasn't at the level of a Monster Party, there were about 10 or so…
The individual strength of the monsters was also significantly higher than those on the upper floors.
The situation gradually became grim. This was something Kashima couldn't understand. It was as if Liam was receiving special care from the Dungeon.
Wherever he went, monster activity was abnormally high!
Just arriving at the 11th floor, he was lucky enough to encounter a "Monster Party." Even the situation on the 12th floor was pretty much the same…
"Chigusa, you're in charge of taking care of the supporter."
He had a basic understanding of Liam's strength, but it was his first time facing a tricky monster like a Hellhound. Kashima tried hard to calm himself.
Conducting the team's battle command.
He gripped the giant axe in his hand, then immediately said to Mikoto, "Let's coordinate with Liam and see if we can take care of this group of Hellhounds first."
"No problem!"
Mikoto, also prepared for battle, was just about to remind Liam not to rashly attack when facing Hellhounds, otherwise, he would be surrounded.
The young man's figure, cloaked in grayish-brown, burst forward with extreme speed.
At a speed that was impossible to accurately capture with the naked eye, he charged towards the gradually gathering monsters ahead. The young woman gritted her teeth, realizing something was wrong.
But she still braced herself to support Liam!
It was just that the battle scene that subsequently appeared before her eyes made the young woman's steps pause, and even her tense expression was shrouded in bewilderment.
With no mist to obstruct his vision, Liam's target was extremely clear.
Using his body's explosive power to close the distance, he dashed in front of the Hellhounds, unhesitatingly using the "Triple Slash" skill.
Three consecutive slashes, accompanied by a strong dashing technique.
It directly broke through one side of the gathered Hellhounds. Setting aside the sword aura slashes, this was a sword combat technique that no swordsman had ever conceived of.
Two consecutive slashes, where only afterimages could be seen, accompanied by a moonlight-like afterimage, tore apart all the monsters that delusionally tried to block Liam's advance!
"Is this an adventurer exploring the middle levels for the first time?"
Gripping the tachi in her hand, Mikoto, who had paused her advance, had her eyes filled with bewilderment. The meaning of supporting the Hestia Familia expedition…
What was it?
She now seriously suspected that this was clearly an expedition commission to give them free money. It was purely the other party's god showing off, wanting to make them realize.
The gap in talent between adventurers!!
(End of this chapter)
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