Why Does It Look So Similar?

Dungeon, 1st Floor.

At the entrance to the floor closest to the surface, Riezel and Lefiya walked down the stairs.

Other adventurers accompanied them as well: Beastmen, Dwarves, Elves, and Amazons.

Mixed among them, Riezel and Lefiya were not particularly conspicuous. Aside from a few male adventurers casting slightly lustful looks at Lefiya, the two attracted almost no attention.

Lefiya, on the other hand, seemed somewhat uneasy. Her grip on her staff was tight, and she carried a huge backpack on her back as she followed closely behind Riezel.

Riezel casually chatted with Lefiya now and then. Only after they had finished descending the stairs and stepped onto the 1st Floor did he stop.

"Then, just as we discussed earlier, I'll take the vanguard while you stay in the rear and provide fire support. No problem?"

Riezel asked Lefiya.

"N-No problem!"

Lefiya hurriedly nodded, raising no objection whatsoever.

"Then I'll be counting on you." Riezel could only remind her, "Since our party is short one person, you may have to take some risks as the rear guard. I'll do my best not to let a single monster get near you, so just focus on chanting your magic."

Generally speaking, the best way to explore the Dungeon was in groups of three, with each person responsible for attack, defense, and support.

The vanguard was the main attacker, but also had the duty of drawing the enemy's attention, blocking their advance, and preventing monsters from threatening the companions behind them.

The middle guard was responsible for guarding against enemy counterattacks. Sometimes, they also had to assist the vanguard and relieve their pressure.

The rear guard was mainly responsible for long-range support. They could attack with magic or provide ranged assistance with bows and hand crossbows, while also tending to the two on the front line when they were injured.

A party with such clearly divided roles was highly effective when exploring the Dungeon.

Thus, the Guild and the major familias organized their expeditions around this party structure and coordinated action. Unless there were truly no other options, three-person parties were the minimum requirement for exploring the Dungeon.

Under such circumstances, if a party was missing one person and became a two-person group, one side's burden would increase, and the odds of accidents and danger during exploration would rise as well.

Lefiya was a pure rear-guard mage. Other than using magic for long-range attacks and fire support, she could scarcely do anything else. Taking that into account, Riezel had voluntarily taken on both the vanguard and middle guard roles.

In other words, Riezel had to charge into battle as the vanguard and draw the enemy's attacks, while also stopping every monster from breaking through the line and reaching Lefiya.

Naturally, that was an enormous burden, and Lefiya felt rather sorry about it.

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

Lefiya did not quite dare to look Riezel in the eye.

"Don't say that." Riezel shook his head and looked at Lefiya. "You're a rear-guard mage. That's your role, and you shouldn't be doing things beyond what you're responsible for in the first place."

As he spoke, Riezel took out a map, unfolded it, and placed it before them.

"Considering this party was only just formed, we don't just lack coordination—we don't even know each other well enough yet. Let's see how things go today. We should be able to make it to around the 9th Floor, right?"

After all, Lefiya was a Level 3 Second Class Adventurer. Even if she was a pure rear-guard mage without close-combat ability, her level advantage remained. Floors inhabited only by Level 1 monsters basically could not inflict fatal injuries on Lefiya.

Looking at it that way, unless they descended to the 13th Floor, where Level 2 monsters appeared, Lefiya would at most be injured even if she were attacked. She would not lose her life.

However, since it was their first time forming a party and coordinating with each other, heading directly to the 10th through 12th Floors, where Large Species appeared, could still pose some risks. Therefore, Riezel temporarily set their target at the 9th Floor.

Though Riezel personally wanted to venture deeper, they had not come today seeking thrills. They were here to hone their team combat ability. He could only abandon that thought, which would surely earn criticism, and focus on the matter of "safety," which he had previously been reluctant to accept.

However, while Riezel felt he had thoroughly considered safety, Lefiya was greatly startled by his words.

"The... the 9th Floor!?"

Lefiya's wide eyes filled with shock as she looked at Riezel.

It could not be helped.

"You want to go that deep?" Lefiya quickly said, "Mister Riezel only became an adventurer recently. You only received your Falna not long ago. You're a complete newcomer—how can you go to such a deep floor?"

Having accompanied her familia seniors on expeditions, Lefiya had even been to the ultra-deep floors around the 50th Floor. Naturally, a mere 9th Floor would not scare her out of her wits.

But Riezel was a newcomer who had only recently joined the familia. Even though Lefiya could not put on the airs of a senior before him at all, she still knew how dangerous it was for a newcomer to go to the 9th Floor.

That was a floor only veteran adventurers who ranked among the best even at Level 1 could visit, and only in parties.

Riezel had joined the familia less than a week ago, yet he was going to a floor like that with her, an immature junior of the familia. Worse, he was taking on both the vanguard and middle guard roles. To put it bluntly, even someone looking to die would not go about it this way.

"Don't worry." Seeing that Lefiya seemed to want to stop him, Riezel said, "It's only the 9th Floor. It's not enough to put me in danger now."

With Riezel's current abilities, the 9th Floor was already almost completely without difficulty for him.

Leaving everything else aside, he had trained both Dexterity and Agility to Stage B, while even Strength and Endurance had reached Stage C.

According to the standards for safe exploration, at Level 1, safely exploring the 8th through 10th Floors required at least one ability between Stage E and Stage C. The 11th and 12th Floors required an ability between Stage B and Stage S.

Therefore, Riezel could now safely explore the 11th Floor, and even the 12th Floor would not be a problem.

It was only the 9th Floor. Unless Riezel completely lost his ability to fight or was surrounded by an uncountable horde of monsters, even getting injured would be difficult for him.

"But..."

Still unaware of all this, Lefiya continued to look worried.

Seeing that, Riezel did not force the issue and simply said something.

"How about we explore first, then decide later how deep we should go?"

Only then did Lefiya let out a breath of relief and nod repeatedly.

"Then let's get going."

Riezel put away the map and smiled at Lefiya.

Seeing the calm, steady smile on Riezel's face, Lefiya seemed to feel reassured and, unusually, smiled as well.

At that moment, Lefiya did not know that the calmness and steadiness she sensed were merely superficial.

Very soon, everything she thought she knew about Riezel would shatter into pieces.

Dungeon, 6th Floor.

This was a floor one level deeper than the 5th Floor, known as the first casualty line for adventurers, and was far more dangerous than the 5th Floor.

On this floor lived a type of monster known as a War Shadow.

They were bizarre monsters with humanoid outlines, no tissue resembling fur or skin, bodies that looked as though they had been coated in black paint, cross-shaped heads, and mirror-like faces. They bore an uncanny resemblance to human shadows.

Together with the Killer Ants on the 7th Floor, these monsters were known as newcomer killers. Their attacks were simple, but possessed astonishing power and speed. Their arms, which had an impressive attack range, could extend from every angle, and their sharp claws were like long blades capable of easily severing a person's head. To newcomer adventurers who had only fought low-level monsters such as Kobolds and Goblins, they posed a deadly threat.

Especially once the number of War Shadows reached a certain scale, even experienced Level 1 adventurers could lose their lives if they were surrounded.

For that reason, many adventurers regarded War Shadows as one of the most threatening representative monsters of the Upper Floors. One or two alone were manageable, but if they encountered a group of War Shadows, few would provoke them unless they had leveled up.

Yet today, this unspoken rule acknowledged by adventurers was broken by a newcomer who had received his Falna only recently.

And in the most brutal way possible.

Splat!

Accompanied by the sound of flesh being severed, a silver-flashing blade instantly sliced through a War Shadow's neck, sending its cross-shaped head flying high into the air.

Riezel gripped his rapier as he raced through a group of War Shadows.

A large number of War Shadows surrounded Riezel from all sides, extending their sharp claws with the intent of tearing open his belly.

Yet the speed and attack range that had always served the War Shadows so well proved utterly useless before Riezel.

Riezel shook off the "slow-moving" War Shadows at bullet-like speed. The sword in his hand slipped easily through countless sharp claws, drawing streaks of sword light as it disemboweled and slaughtered War Shadow after War Shadow on the spot.

From afar, it looked as though a phantom were flickering back and forth among the War Shadows, raising waves of Blade Light and Sword Shadows as it carried out a one-sided massacre. It was breathtakingly shocking.

"..."

Lefiya stared blankly, still clutching her staff.

The elf girl, who had originally intended to chant magic in support, had completely forgotten her duty as she watched the "newcomer" slaughter monsters amid the horde with a dazed expression.

"...This is a newcomer?"

Such polished combat.

Such efficient slaughter.

Was this something a newcomer could accomplish?

Were newcomers these strong nowadays?

Then what was she?

Trash?

Lefiya was utterly dumbfounded.

What the girl found most unbelievable was that, within Riezel's merciless charge and slaughter, she saw a familiar figure.

A figure she had long yearned for, admired, and adored.

"Miss Ais...?"

Why did Mister Riezel's fighting style look so much like Miss Ais's?

The elf girl was completely thrown into confusion.

The new book has only just been uploaded! I hope everyone can support it!

Please bookmark it! Please vote!

ヾ(@^▽^@)ノ