Battle in the Mist

The scenery and terrain on the 8th and 9th Floor of the Dungeon are different from the previous floors.

The walls here are no longer light green, but a wood color covered with moss. The ground has turned into a grassland with short grass, and there is phosphorescence on the ceiling that looks like sunlight descending, giving people the feeling that they are not entering an underground labyrinth, but walking in the wilderness.

The terrain hasn't changed much; it's still a complex network of rock passages connecting the various caves. However, the number of caves on the 8th and 9th Floor has increased, and the interiors have become more spacious. The paths connecting the caves are very short, and the ceilings, which were originally only three to four meters high, have increased to nearly ten meters. In poor lighting conditions, the ceilings are even invisible, demonstrating just how vast it is.

As for the monsters appearing here, it's a hodgepodge of monsters that have appeared on all the floors so far. No new types of monsters have appeared. Instead, monsters that have appeared on previous floors, such as Goblin, Kobold, Purple Moth, and Needle Rabbit, will appear in stronger forms. If you misjudge their strength just because they have appeared on previous floors, you will definitely not have a good outcome.

In other words, as long as you don't misjudge the strength of your opponent, and fight them in the same way you dealt with them before, you can generally survive here unharmed.

Therefore, the difficulty of conquering the 8th and 9th Floor is relatively low, at least not much higher than the 7th floor.

However, the situation changes once you reach the 10th Floor.

The 10th Floor of the Dungeon was constructed using the same form as the 8th and 9th Floor, except that the ceiling light source was no longer as bright as sunlight, and the brightness dropped sharply.

The reason why this has happened is quite simple.

"This fog is really obstructing our vision----"

This was the first thought that came to Leo's mind upon arriving on the 10th Floor.

Yes, there is fog on the 10th Floor.

A thick white fog enveloped the entire floor, obstructing the view, so that Leo, who had been walking through the rock passageway, did not feel that his field of vision had become wider at all as he entered the vast, seemingly endless cavern of the grassland.

Standing here, Leo could only see scattered, withered trees around him, devoid of leaves and branches.

The many withered trees standing eerily in the mist made Leo raise an eyebrow and approach them.

He reached out and touched a dead tree that was over a meter tall, and found that the bark was much stronger than he had imagined. The trunk was thick at the bottom and extremely thin at the top, showing an obviously abnormal structure.

"Is this the Labyrinth's Armory?"

The Labyrinth's Armory is one of the tricky features of Dungeon.

This is a natural weapon provided by this living underground labyrinth specifically for the monsters that roam the surrounding area.

Starting from the 10th Floor of the Dungeon, this type Dungeon terrain will gradually appear, specifically designed to enhance the abilities of monsters.

It can be destroyed, but as part of the Dungeon, it will naturally be repaired over time. Even if monsters take it away as weapons, after a while, the exact same thing will grow back in the same spot.

Of course, this isn't the most challenging part of the 10th Floor.

The real challenge of the 10th Floor is that monsters that didn't appear on the previous nine floors will appear here.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh----"

A deep, rumbling sound, like the low growl of a large beast in the darkness, appeared without any warning.

"Thump----thump----thump----thump----"

The ground began to tremble slightly, and a huge figure appeared on the other side of the fog, accompanied by the sound of footsteps, causing the soles of the feet, which were in constant contact with the ground, to feel the vibration.

Leo didn't panic. Instead, he calmly looked at the other side of the fog and gazed at the enormous figure approaching with heavy steps.

Gradually, the figure broke through the fog and appeared in full before Leo.

It was an extremely ugly monster, much larger than Leo.

The monster was covered in brown skin, over three meters tall, broad and stout, with tattered old fur wrapped around its waist, like a rag skirt, exuding wildness.

It has thick limbs, a pig's head on its neck, and yellow eyes, making it look like a ferocious and monstrous wild boar that has come to life.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee--!"

A terrifying roar erupted from the other party's mouth, instantly creating a wave of sound.

"Orc----"

Leo's grip on the small straight sword tightened suddenly.

Orcs are typically the first large-scale monster adventurers encounter in Dungeon.

In the earlier floors, the monsters adventurers encounter are generally small-sized, meaning they are relatively short in stature. Examples include Goblin, Kobold, Purple Moth, and Needle Rabbit.

Monsters such as War Shadow and Killer Ant are medium-sized. Although they are larger than small-sized monsters, they are not larger than an adult human and are not too frightening.

Starting from the 10th Floor, adventurers will begin to encounter large monsters that did not appear on the previous floors.

These types of monsters typically have a size far exceeding that of an ordinary adult human, and their strength is much greater than that of small and medium-sized species. They are all thick-skinned and tough, making them even more difficult to kill than Killer Ant covered in hard shells.

And----

"Whoosh!"

The orc roared and stomped his feet across the dead forest.

It reached out its hand to a dead tree beside it and uprooted it with its massive wrist.

In that instant, the withered tree transformed into a rough club, which the orc grasped in his hand.

This is the tricky part of the Labyrinth's Armory: by transforming itself into a weapon suitable for the monsters, monsters that could be defeated unarmed become special enemies that cannot be underestimated after receiving this support.

The orc, now armed, was breathing heavily. His yellow eyes turned to Leo, a fierce glint in them.

That's the look in someone's eyes when they see their prey.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh--!"

A few seconds later, the orc moved.

A roar erupted from its mouth once more, and its soles slammed onto the ground, shaking the earth as it charged toward Leo.

"Bang!"

With a thud, the orc smashed a hole in the ground, sending sand and gravel flying everywhere.

Leo swiftly dodged the heavy blow, showing no intention of confronting the orc head-on.

The difference in physique alone makes it clear that ordinary adventurers would be unable to withstand an orc's attack head-on.

Even adventurers who have received the Falna, unless they are particularly skilled in "strength" and "endurance," would be unable to confront a large monster like an orc head-on.

Not to mention that Leo's "strength" is only D and his "endurance" is only E, even if he achieved A in both of these, he would still have a hard time competing head-on with the orc.

Therefore, without hesitation, Leo dodged the club that the orc had snatched, and as the orc slammed his blow into the ground, creating a crater, he suddenly lunged towards him.

"Pfft!"

The sword light formed from the small straight sword slashed across the orc's side, cutting open his abdomen and causing blood to flash.

Leo brushed past the orc from the side and slashed out with his sword, wounding the orc.

Green blood spurted from the orc's abdominal wound, causing the pig-headed monster to scream in pain.

"It's really hard."

Leo, who had already rushed behind the orc, gripped his small straight sword and muttered something under his breath.

This was the first time he had felt his sword encounter significant resistance after striking a monster.

Before this, even when cutting down Killer Ant covered in hard shells, Leo could always cut them straight through with a single stroke thanks to the sharpness of his small, decent straight sword. This was true even when his "strength" was still I0, and he didn't feel any resistance at all.

This time, however, Leo clearly felt that the small straight sword encountered resistance when cutting into the orc's abdomen, indicating that the large monster's "durability" was indeed quite high.

"Roar!"

The orc didn't seem very agile; it roared for a while before turning around and launching a second charge at Leo in a fit of rage. Without thinking, Leo jumped back and retreated, dodging the orc's club attacks.

"!""!""!""!""!"----

For a moment, the booming sound of clubs striking the ground echoed continuously through the misty fog.

Smoke and pebbles flew everywhere as the furiously roaring orc relentlessly pursued Leo, only to be Leo time and again.

Despite being inferior to the orc in both strength and durability, Leo simply relied on his dexterity and agility to outmaneuver his opponent, causing him to gradually lose his composure due to the prolonged lack of breakthrough.

"Bang!"

Another blow from the club struck the ground, and the orc, still in the swinging stance, was briefly stunned amidst the rising dust.

In that instant, Leo abruptly stopped his backward leap, bursting forward like a bullet and landing on the orc's staff, stepping on it.

He didn't stop there, but ran up the stick and even the orc's thick arms, and instantly rushed to the orc's huge head.

"Pfft!"

A flash of cold light, and the small straight sword in Leo's hand pierced directly into the orc's eye socket, piercing through its eye.

This is an undeniable weakness, and it's impossible for it to be hindered in the same way as when attacking the abdomen.

"Eh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh 1

The orc let out an unprecedentedly shrill howl, appearing as if he were going mad.