Arcing Ray

Dungeon, 9th Floor.

On this floor near the 10th Floor, with its many chambers, short paths, and ceilings nearly ten meters high, phosphorescent light like sunlight poured down from overhead, driving away the darkness.

The wood-colored walls were covered in moss, while the ground was blanketed in short grass, forming a small prairie. Bathed in the phosphorescent light descending from the ceiling, it gave one the illusion of walking through the wilderness rather than an underground labyrinth.

In terms of terrain and environment, this place differed from all eight floors above. Yet compared to its terrain and environment, the monsters that appeared here were a hodgepodge of those from the preceding floors.

There were no new types of monsters on this floor. Instead, monsters that had appeared on earlier floors were strengthened, with kobolds, goblins, War Shadows, and the like appearing in more powerful forms to block adventurers heading for the 10th Floor.

For example, at that moment, groups of red monsters appeared across the grassland and launched an attack on the adventurers who had entered their territory.

They looked almost exactly like ants, except their entire bodies were crimson and far larger.

Killer Ants—monsters that began appearing from the 7th Floor onward. Alongside the War Shadows that appeared from the 6th Floor, they were known as one of the rookie killers.

They possessed sturdy carapaces and four highly developed claws. Both their offensive and defensive capabilities were among the best in the Upper Floors. When in danger, they could also release pheromones imperceptible to ordinary people to call their companions, making them troublesome monsters.

They were even more dangerous than War Shadows. Ordinary adventurers did not dare face them head-on, much less endure being surrounded by them in groups.

Yet Riezel stood fearlessly in the path of the Killer Ant army that made Lower Class Adventurers quake at the mere mention of its name.

Behind him, a clear voice, bright as a lark's, rang out.

"Arrows of liberating light, bowshaft of the sacred tree, I am a master of the bow."

It was a chant, an incantation that awakened magic.

"Strike them down, fairy archer."

Lefiya closed her eyes and raised her Staves. A deep golden Magic Circle appeared upon the ground beneath her feet, slowly rotating.

"Pierce through, arrow that never misses."

Dazzling magic power gathered into light upon Lefiya's raised Staves.

"Arcing Ray."

The next second, the light gathered on the Staves was released.

A massive magical ray that could only be called a beam of light transformed into an arcing arrow of light, plowing through the grassland as it blasted toward the incoming swarm of Killer Ants.

"Chitter!"

The Killer Ants seemed to sense the danger and hastily stopped their charge, only to be struck head-on by the incoming beam.

Riezel watched with his own eyes as the massive beam Lefiya had unleashed curved through the air while continuously striking the Killer Ants.

The struck Killer Ants either evaporated in the overflowing light or had parts of their bodies sliced away. Even if they tried to dodge, they could not escape; the curving beam caught up to them in an instant.

Lefiya's magic continued to destroy monsters, reducing the number of enemies.

"Chitter!"

Several Killer Ants that were closer seemed to fight with the desperation of creatures backed into a corner. With piercing shrieks, they lunged at Riezel, who blocked their path.

Riezel's eyes flashed, and his body finally moved. He exploded with astonishing speed, advancing rather than retreating, closing in on them before the Killer Ants could pounce.

"Slash!"

Silver light flashed as the nimble rapier severed a Killer Ant's head.

On closer inspection, the rapier's blade had not struck directly against the Killer Ant's hard carapace. Instead, it had cut in through a weak point in the shell before severing its head.

"Chitter!"

"Chitter!"

Seeing this, the remaining two Killer Ants cried out furiously. They raised their aggressive claws and, without hesitation, knocked Riezel's sword aside.

Though his main weapon had been knocked away, Riezel remained completely calm. He drew the dagger serving as his secondary weapon, sidestepped one Killer Ant's claw strike, and swept the dagger through the air at high speed, its cold gleam piercing into the Killer Ant's mouth.

"...!"

The Killer Ant wanted to scream, but with the dagger lodged in its mouth, it could only let out a muffled wail.

Ignoring the monster's death throes, Riezel twisted the hand holding the dagger, mercilessly crushing the Killer Ant's head and spraying blood everywhere.

"Chitter, chitter, chitter!"

Sensing that things had gone badly, the last surviving Killer Ant raised its upper body and let out a rhythmic cry.

This was the Killer Ants' special technique: calling their companions.

Unfortunately, there were no more Killer Ant companions nearby.

"Slash!"

With one clean strike from Riezel, the rapier severed the last Killer Ant's upper body, cutting through the joint in its body and slicing it in two.

Only then did the grassland return to peace.

"Is it over?"

From the rear, Lefiya lowered the Staves she had been clutching nervously all this time.

"It's over." Riezel surveyed the surroundings before nodding. "There shouldn't be any monsters left nearby."

"That's great." Relieved, Lefiya patted her chest and put the potion she had been gripping all this time back into her backpack.

"How was that? Not bad, right?" Seeing this, Riezel asked, "You used magic quite a few times just now. Can your mental strength still hold up?"

"I'm fine." Lefiya forced a somewhat strained smile. "The pressure on the Upper Floors isn't too great, so I didn't need to pour too much mental strength into my magic. I still have some left."

In this world, the fuel for magic was not the magic power stored within one's 'Gate,' but mental strength that had yet to be refined into magic power.

What magic consumed was mental strength, and the stronger the magic, the greater the drain on it.

That was why Lefiya had kept a Magic Elixir clenched in her hand the whole time—to ensure that her mental strength remained sufficient at all times and that she could use magic whenever necessary.

The moment her mental strength began to run low, Lefiya would immediately drink a Magic Elixir and use its effects to restore it.

"Don't you have a Development Ability like 'Spirit Healing' that automatically restores mental strength?"

Riezel asked.

"No." Lefiya hurriedly shook her head. "That isn't a Development Ability you can obtain easily. I heard you need to use magic frequently and exhaust your mental strength to a great extent. Among the people I know, only Lady Riveria has that ability. I'm still far from that level."

Lefiya's assessment of herself was so low that it bordered on inferiority, making Riezel frown almost imperceptibly.

So, Riezel spoke.

"From what I can see, your abilities are excellent." Riezel said to Lefiya, "That magic from earlier seemed to be a short-chant spell. Its power shouldn't have been all that great, yet when you used it, a spell that should have been a 'ray,' just as its name implied, became a 'beam' outright. That kind of power is extremely rare among Lv.3s, isn't it?"

The spell Lefiya had just used—Arcing Ray—was one of the three spells she possessed, a speed-focused, arrow-shaped single-target spell.

It was a short-chant spell. Although its automatic tracking property had caught Riezel's attention, making it an excellent spell that would inevitably strike its target once successfully cast, its raw power should not have been so formidable.

However, because Lefiya herself possessed powerful "magic power" and had the support of her skills, what should have been a relatively weak arrow-shaped single-target spell had transformed into the beam-shaped area-of-effect spell from earlier.

No Lv.3 could accomplish something like that. Only true first-class mages had the means to do so.

It allowed Riezel to personally experience just what it meant for Lefiya's Lv.3 firepower to rival that of an Lv.5.

To put it bluntly, it was indeed outrageous.

The only problem was—

"Your chanting speed seems a little slow. Is it because you're nervous?"

Riezel pointed this out.

"Ugh..."

Lefiya immediately lowered her head in shame.

"I think I understand why Loki said you needed training." Riezel smiled. "Your talent for magic is excellent, but your temperament is too weak. Your mind and mentality are unstable, which does more harm than good for magic that requires calmness at all times to be cast steadily."

Without a strong heart, how could one calmly chant a spell and cast magic when danger was closing in?

That was Lefiya's problem. Her innate talent was excellent, but as a Mage, she truly had some immature aspects.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Lefiya looked dejected, and both of her pointed ears drooped.

"Don't worry about it. If you have weaknesses, just overcome them. It's not some major problem." Riezel comforted her. "Let's stop here for today. Tomorrow, we'll think carefully about how to solve the problems you have."

"O-Okay." Naturally, Lefiya had no objections and nodded repeatedly.

The two began packing up, collecting the magic stones and Dropped Items from the Killer Ants as they prepared to head back.

It was already getting late, and it was probably dark outside. The adventurers exploring the Dungeon had begun making their way back one after another, allowing Riezel and Lefiya to travel upward without having to deal with any monsters they might encounter along the way. They walked through passages that clearly had adventurers passing through them, making their return completely unhindered.

Like that, the two quickly returned to the 7th Floor and stepped onto the ground of the 6th Floor.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Riezel raised his head.

"Ah!"

Lefiya, who had been following closely behind Riezel, ran straight into his back and cried out.

Riezel paid it no heed, only furrowing his brow as he stared ahead.

For some reason, he sensed that something was wrong.

The airflow was wrong.

The atmosphere was wrong.

This perception came from Wind Spirit Sprint.

As an additional wind-attribute spell, even when it was not in use, its special nature heightened its user's sensitivity to the wind.

After learning Wind Spirit Sprint, Riezel had discovered this, and it was through it that he noticed something abnormal here.

"W-What is it?"

Lefiya rubbed her aching forehead, completely confused.

But the instant the elven girl spoke, Riezel's heart suddenly jolted.

"Get down!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Riezel threw himself over the startled Lefiya.

Bang!

At the same time, a dark shadow swept over the heads of the two fallen men and slammed into the wall, setting off a thunderous boom.

A slight adjustment to the update schedule.

First update — 11:00.

Second update — 19:00.

This will be the update schedule for the remainder of the new book period.

After it goes premium, there will be more updates. The schedule will be announced separately then.

I hope everyone can support it. (^▽^)