Chapter 29

In this level, which is close to the 10th floor, with numerous chambers and very short corridors, the ceiling is nearly ten meters high. Phosphorescent light, like sunlight, falls from above, dispelling the darkness.

The wooden walls are covered with moss, and the ground is carpeted with short grass, turning it into a small meadow. The meadow, bathed in the phosphorescent light from the ceiling, gives the illusion of walking through an open field rather than an underground labyrinth.

From the terrain and environment, this place is different from the eight levels above. However, the monsters that appear here are a hodgepodge of those from the previous levels.

This level does not introduce new types of monsters but rather enhances the monsters that appeared in the previous levels, making dog-headed men, goblins, and battle shadows even stronger, blocking the path of adventurers trying to reach the 10th floor.

For example, at this moment, a group of red monsters appeared on the meadow, launching an attack on the adventurers who had intruded into their territory.

These monsters look almost identical to ants, except their bodies are entirely red and much larger.

Killer ants, which first appeared on the 7th floor, are one of the monsters known as "newbie killers" alongside the battle shadows that appeared on the 6th floor.

They have a hard shell and well-developed four claws, making them top-tier in both attack and defense among the upper levels. When in danger, they can release pheromones that are undetectable by ordinary people to call for their companions, making them a troublesome monster.

Their threat level is even higher than that of battle shadows, and ordinary adventurers dare not face them head-on, let alone be surrounded by a group of them.

However, in the face of this army of killer ants that strikes fear into the hearts of lower-level adventurers, Rige stood fearlessly, blocking their path.

Behind him, a clear, lark-like voice echoed.

"【Liberated Light Arrow, Sacred Wood Bow, I am the Archer】."

This is the incantation, the spell to awaken magic.

"【Halt, Fairy Archer】."

Rephia closed her eyes, raised her staff, and a deep golden magic circle appeared on the ground beneath her feet, slowly rotating.

"【Pierce, Arrow of Certainty】."

The staff Rephia raised gathered a dazzling magic power into a light.

"【Arcing Ray】."

In the next second, the light gathered on the staff was released.

A massive magic ray, which could be called a "light beam," formed an arc and plowed through the meadow, striking the approaching killer ants.

"Chirp!"

The killer ants seemed to sense the danger and hastily stopped their charge, but they were hit directly by the incoming light beam.

Rige saw with his own eyes that the large light beam released by Rephia, while curving in mid-air, continuously struck the killer ants.

The killer ants that were hit either evaporated in the overflowing light or had parts of their bodies cut off. Even if they tried to dodge, they would be caught by the curving light beam.

Rephia's magic continuously eliminated the monsters, reducing their numbers.

"Chirp!"

A few killer ants that were closer seemed to be fighting for their lives, screeching shrilly as they pounced on Rige, who was blocking their path.

Rige's eyes flashed, and his figure finally moved, bursting with astonishing speed. Instead of retreating, he advanced, getting in front of the killer ants before they could pounce.

"Swish!"

A silver light flashed, and the light and agile sword severed the head of a killer ant.

Upon closer inspection, the sword blade did not directly strike the hard shell of the killer ant but cut into the weak point of the shell before severing the head.

"Chirp!"

"Chirp!"

The remaining two killer ants, seeing this, angrily called out, raising their aggressive claws and forcefully deflecting Rige's sword.

With his main weapon deflected, Rige remained calm and drew his short sword as a secondary weapon. He sidestepped to avoid the claw strike of one killer ant, and his short sword swiftly slashed, piercing the mouth of the killer ant with a cold, sharp light.

"!"

The killer ant tried to scream in pain, but with its mouth pierced by the short sword, it could only emit a muffled cry.

Rige ignored the monster's dying wail, twisted his hand holding the short sword, and mercilessly crushed the head of the killer ant, splattering a large amount of blood.

"Chirp chirp!"

The last surviving killer ant, realizing the situation was dire, raised its upper body and emitted a rhythmic call.

This was the killer ant's special skill, calling for companions.

Unfortunately, there were no other killer ants nearby.

"Swish!"

Rige cleanly sliced the last killer ant, cutting through its upper body at the joint, splitting it in two.

The meadow finally returned to peace.

"Is it over?"

Rephia, who was in the back, put down the staff she had been holding tightly.

"It's over." Rige observed the surroundings and nodded. "There should be no more monsters around here."

"That's a relief." Rephia patted her chest in relief and put the potion she had been holding back into her backpack.

"How are you doing? Are you okay?" Rige asked, seeing this. "You used a lot of magic just now. Is your mental energy holding up?"

"I'm fine." Rephia forced a smile. "The pressure in the upper levels isn't great, so I don't need to use too much mental energy to cast magic. I still have some left."

In this world, the fuel for magic is not the magic power stored in the "Gate" but the unrefined mental energy.

Using magic consumes mental energy, and the stronger the magic, the more mental energy it consumes.

Therefore, to maintain sufficient mental energy at all times and ensure she could use magic, Rephia always held a magic potion.

Once her mental energy started to wane, Rephia would immediately take a magic potion to restore her mental energy.

"Do you not have the ability to automatically recover mental energy, like 'Spirit Recovery'?"

Rige asked.

"No." Rephia shook her head. "That's not an ability that can be easily obtained. I've heard that it requires frequent use of magic and often depleting mental energy to a great extent. Among the people I know, only Lady Rivia has this ability. I'm far from that."

Rephia's self-evaluation was low, even a bit self-deprecating, causing Rige to frown slightly.

So, Rige said,

"To me, your abilities are excellent." Rige told Rephia. "The magic you used just now, it seemed to be a short incantation spell, which should not have been very powerful. But when you used it, the spell that should have been a 'ray' turned into a 'light beam.' This kind of power is rare in the 3rd rank, right?"

The magic Rephia used—【Arcing Ray】—is one of the three spells she possesses, a fast, single-shot arrow-type spell.

This spell is a short incantation type, and although it has an automatic tracking attribute that Rige found impressive, making it an excellent spell that will hit the target once activated, its power should not have been this strong.

However, due to Rephia's strong "magic power" and skill support, the weak arrow-type single-target spell turned into a powerful beam-type area-of-effect spell.

No 3rd-rank adventurer could achieve this; only the true 1st-rank mages could.

This allowed Rige to personally experience how Rephia's 3rd-rank firepower could rival that of a 5th-rank adventurer.

To put it bluntly, it was indeed impressive.

The only problem was...

"Your incantation speed seems a bit slow. Is it because you were nervous?"

Rige pointed this out.

"Uh..."

Rephia immediately lowered her head in shame.

"I think I understand why Loki said you need training." Rige smiled. "Although your magical talent is excellent, your personality is too weak, and your mental and emotional states are unstable. This is detrimental to magic, which requires constant calmness to be used effectively."

Without a strong heart, how could one calmly chant magic incantations and cast spells when faced with threats?

Rephia's problem was here. She had excellent potential, but as a mage, she was somewhat immature.

"I'm sorry..."

Rephia was dejected, her pointed ears drooping.

"Don't worry about it. Overcoming your weaknesses is the way to improve. It's not a big problem." Rige consoled her. "Let's call it a day for today. We'll think about how to solve your issues tomorrow."

"Okay, okay." Rephia naturally had no objections, nodding repeatedly.

The two began to tidy up, picking up the magic stones and dropped items from the killer ants, preparing to return.

It was already getting late, and it was probably dark outside. The adventurers exploring the dungeon were all returning, allowing Rige and Rephia to walk through the clearly used passages without encountering any monsters, making their journey smooth.

Thus, they quickly returned to the 7th floor and stepped onto the ground of the 6th floor.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Rige lifted his head.

"Ah!"

Rephia, who was following closely behind Rige, bumped into his back and let out a cry.

Rige, however, ignored this, frowning and looking ahead.

For some reason, he felt something was off.

The airflow was off.

The atmosphere was off.

This was due to the perception from 【Wind Spirit Dash】.

As a wind attribute supplementary magic, even when not in use, the user's sensitivity to the wind increases due to the special nature of the magic.

Rige had noticed this after learning 【Wind Spirit Dash】 and had detected some abnormalities here because of it.

"What's wrong?"

Rephia, holding her sore forehead, was confused.

But the moment the elf girl spoke, Rige's heart suddenly raced.

"Get down!"

Without hesitation, Rige tackled Rephia, who had just let out a cry.

"Bang!"

At the same time, a black shadow flew over the heads of the two fallen figures, hitting the wall with a loud crash.

Slightly changing the update times.

First update—11:00 AM.

Second update—7:00 PM.

From now on, the new book period will follow this update schedule.

After going live, there will be more updates, and the update times will be announced later.

I hope everyone will support. (*^▽^*)

(End of Chapter)