The unexpected brightness was Shirou Emiya's first impression of the dungeon.
Everywhere were narrow passageways, branching routes, and chambers of various shapes. This environment was extremely unfriendly to adventurers who used long weapons.
"Fighting in an environment like this is indeed very unfriendly to newcomers. The oppressive environment and atmosphere, along with the danger of monsters appearing at any moment, would probably cause anyone with poor mental fortitude to lose their combat ability very quickly."
But that only applied to ordinary newcomers.
For Shirou Emiya, who had experienced the Holy Grail War and crossed swords with heroes from legend, there was nothing left to fear.
Perhaps his body was still that of an ordinary mortal, but his spirit and will had long since been tempered into those of a battle-hardened warrior.
How could the mere environment of a dungeon possibly have a negative impact on him?
"Crack—"
As a strange sound rang out, cracks suddenly appeared in the walls around Shirou Emiya.
Through those cracks, newly born monsters tumbled out one after another.
The newborn monsters stared at Shirou Emiya's upright figure standing in the middle of the passage. Howling, they surrounded him.
"Is this what they call a living dungeon?"
As he watched the dungeon mother give birth to monsters, Shirou Emiya couldn't help recalling the descriptions he had read in books.
The dungeon was alive.
The monsters born on the first few floors of the dungeon were mainly Goblins and Dwarves.
And the creatures now appearing before him were the legendary Goblins.
They had sharp claws and pointed fangs. A newcomer adventurer could easily be injured by them if he was careless.
"So these are monsters? Now this finally feels like an adventure world."
Raising the Twin Swords in his hands, Shirou Emiya charged toward one of the Goblins. He had no intention of obediently waiting for them to surround him.
Shirou Emiya's physical attributes were nothing special at present. In terms of physique, he was even far behind the Beastmen.
What allowed him to surpass the other adventurers was his wealth of combat experience and mature fighting methods.
As for magic, how much mana would he have left once he used his Reality Marble?
Battles in the dungeon were wars of attrition. This was what he needed to adapt to. He was no longer in the days when Miyu supplied him with mana.
When he reached the Goblin, Shirou Emiya brought his sword down and ended its life in an instant.
How fragile. But that was the characteristic of Goblins.
Even a newcomer could easily defeat them with sufficient caution and courage.
Therefore, the most important thing for newcomers was their state of mind.
After killing the Goblin, Shirou Emiya ignored the monster as it turned to ash and charged toward the others.
If he could easily deal with them one-on-one, why waste effort fighting several at once?
Goblins were not very fast. The two closest to Shirou Emiya had already gathered together.
After charging forward and timing it perfectly, Shirou Emiya kicked one Goblin away, then threw a weapon at it.
After killing the remaining Goblin beside him with a single sword stroke, he saw that the Goblin he had kicked away had also been pinned to the ground and turned to ash.
"Projection, start!"
Without retrieving the weapon he had thrown, Shirou Emiya projected a new weapon and replenished his supply.
Looking at the three remaining Goblins, Shirou Emiya charged forward calmly.
He quickly dealt with all of them.
"As expected, the first floor is only for newcomer adventurers to get used to the environment. This isn't a battlefield I need."
Shirou Emiya picked up the six Magic Stones from the ground and carefully placed them in the backpack behind him.
They were all money!
In this world, Magic Stone products were so popular that Magic Stones were practically equivalent to money.
Magic Stones were also an adventurer's primary reward. The Magic Stones obtained by hunting monsters could be exchanged directly for Valis at the Guild on the surface.
Therefore, Magic Stones were money.
"These six Magic Stones should be worth around a thousand Valis. That's enough for a meal."
After putting on his backpack and cleaning up the battlefield, Shirou Emiya once again set out along the path deeper into the dungeon. The first floor was simply too easy for him and could not provide any useful training.
Although this world's Blessings resembled a game interface, they were not used to gain experience by hunting monsters.
The attributes of Divine Blessings increased through training.
The basic ability values of Divine Blessings were strength, endurance, dexterity, agility, and magic.
To increase strength, one had to exert force.
To increase endurance, one had to withstand attacks.
To increase dexterity, one had to make the body move.
To increase agility, one had to run at full speed.
To increase magic, one had to use magic.
Daily training could also raise these attributes, but the improvement was far slower than that gained through actual combat against monsters.
There was great terror between life and death.
Only a true battle to the death could draw out an adventurer's full potential.
The monsters on the first floor were no different from training within a Familia to Shirou Emiya. Therefore, he needed to venture deeper into the dungeon.
The dungeon's eighth floor.
This was the area inhabited by Killer Ants, and also the area where the largest number of Killer Ants were born.
In the dungeon, there were times when the same monster appeared across several consecutive floors. But as one went deeper, the number and frequency of monsters appearing continued to increase.
And the eighth floor was the area with the greatest number and frequency of Killer Ants.
"Clang—!"
With his Twin Swords crossed, Shirou Emiya blocked the attack from directly ahead. He had been constantly observing his surroundings, and immediately kicked the attacker away before slashing at another Killer Ant that had closed in from the side.
His swift sword severed its arm. Ignoring its shrieks, Shirou Emiya followed up with a flurry of attacks. The two short swords moved through his hands like juggling props, slashing from bizarre angles and beheading it outright.
But it wasn't over yet. Shirou Emiya spun around and charged toward the two other Killer Ants to the side. Though he was deeply surrounded by numerous Killer Ants, he showed no panic or fear, calmly facing the monsters before him.
When he reached the two Killer Ants standing close together, Shirou Emiya calmly blocked one of their attacks with his left sword, then pierced the other Killer Ant at close range.
Without pausing, he leaned backward and slammed his back into the Killer Ant behind him. At the same time, the left sword he had used to block had already been withdrawn and was thrust backward in a reverse grip.
"Bang!"
The Killer Ant Shirou Emiya had smashed against the wall had no ability to fight back. It was pinned to the wall by a single sword.
As Shirou Emiya pulled out his left sword, the Killer Ant behind him had already turned to ash.
The only sound that followed was the clatter of a Magic Stone falling to the ground.
Looking around at the few Killer Ants remaining, Shirou Emiya, breathing slightly heavily, decided to finish the battle quickly.
He lightly stamped the ground and charged toward the Killer Ants again, easily cutting down the isolated monsters.
Only the few gathered together required a little more effort.
Facing the Killer Ants leaping toward him, Shirou Emiya jumped forward as well. Spinning in midair, he threw the two weapons in his hands and pierced the bodies of both monsters.
Then, after projecting new weapons in midair, he slashed at the final two Killer Ants.
A flash of sword light passed, and the two Killer Ants were cleaved apart, turning to ash.
Shirou Emiya, crouching on the ground, slowly rose to his feet and turned to look at the battlefield behind him. In the dim passage, Magic Stones glittered all over the ground.
"Looks like I'll have a pretty good haul today."
Leaning against the wall, Shirou Emiya panted lightly and smiled happily.
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