Near-Omnipotent Positioning
There are three grain warehouses on the 24th Floor, located in the southwest, southeast, and north respectively.
Originally, Leo and his group were still considering which grain depot to visit, but Asfi gave them the answer directly.
"Just keep walking in the direction the monsters are coming from."
Asfi's judgment was simple: since the food depot was the source of the monster surge, all she had to do was head in the direction the monsters were coming from.
Based on this assessment, the group immediately chose their destination as being in the north.
As it turned out, Asfi's judgment was correct.
As the group got closer to the northern granary, the number of monsters they encountered increased dramatically. At times, the monsters even filled the entire passage, making it impossible to pass. This sight made the majority of the Hermes Familia members, who were mostly Lv.3, shudder with fear.
Normally, the ability required to conquer the 24th Floor is the latter half of Lv.2, or rather, the highest stage of Lv.2. But now, with this crowded horde of monsters, even a strong Lv.3 would probably be scared away and turn back on the spot.
They didn't dare to rush in and fight at all.
For the Hermes Familia, whose members are mostly Lv.3, this scene is like hell mode, making Asfi want to avoid the battle altogether.
The last to make a move were naturally Leo and Ais.
No, it should be said that it was Leo alone.
The moment he saw the horde of monsters, he unhesitatingly unleashed a spell he had never used before on the journey.
"[Meteor Dance]!"
A magic circle radiating dazzling Starlight unfolded beneath Leo's feet, from which countless glittering meteors shot out, forming a dense Meteor Shower that roared towards the monster horde.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!"
A deafening roar instantly echoed throughout the passage, causing the green forest terrain to tremble violently.
The Meteor Shower rained down on the ground, relentlessly bombarding the monster, causing it to be pierced, exploded, and shattered amidst screams of agony.
The widespread bombing caused the dust waves from the explosions to turn into rolling sandstorms, sweeping around and plunging the entire Hermes Familia into panic. People instinctively either lay down or collapsed. Even Ais and Asfi couldn't help but raise their hands to shield themselves from the blast.
Once everything calmed down and the dust settled, there were no monsters left in the scene; only craters and monster remains lay scattered everywhere, a truly horrifying sight.
"This----this----"
The Hermes Familia members, led by Asfi, were utterly shocked.
"----The magic has become much stronger too."
Ais silently looked at the culprit who had caused all of this, and whispered to herself.
"Hmm, the firepower has increased considerably."
Leo himself, however, felt only satisfaction.
After leveling up to Lv.5, although my magic won't increase in strength by two whole levels like my melee combat due to the new skills, it will definitely be stronger than my current melee strength.
After all, "Demonic Power" has always been Leo's strongest ability. He was able to train this basic ability to SSS level at Lv.1, and it was the only ability he could train to SSS level before Lv.4.
In other words, Leo's "Demonic Power" parameter has always been stronger than his other basic abilities. In addition, with the boost from [Star Soul Eternal] and the correction from the two major development abilities of "Mage" and "Magic Attack", his magical ability is naturally stronger than his melee ability.
"Perhaps my magical firepower is now no less than Riveria Ljos Alf's."
Unfortunately, Leo only has two spells, unlike Riveria Ljos Alf, whose three spell slots are full and who can adjust the attributes and power of each spell through special magical properties, effectively using three spells as nine.
The title "[Nine Magic Princess]" was not given casually. It is because Riveria Ljos Alf can use three spells as nine spells that she is called "Nine Demons".
As for the [Thousand Elf], it goes without saying that you can tell from the title that this fairy can use an almost insane number of spells.
Lefiya Viridis's Third Magic is far more overpowered Riveria Ljos Alf's. Riveria Ljos Alf uses three spells as if they were nine, while Lefia uses one spell as if it were countless. It's ridiculously unfair.
Of course, Leo was also one of the fouls.
His [Meteor Dance] can be used as a single-target spell or as a multi-target spell, which can be considered as using one spell as multiple spells.
Leo, who was thinking this, had no idea that, in the eyes of Asfi and the others, he only needed this one spell to be terrifying enough.
"Is he a swordsman or Mage?"
Asfi couldn't help but ask Ais.
"Both, and neither," Ais replied calmly. "Leo is a magic swordsman."
"A magic swordsman?" Lulune couldn't help but retort, "With such powerful magic, why be a magic swordsman? Wouldn't it be better to just be Mage?"
The people around him nodded repeatedly, agreeing without any doubt.
In their general understanding, so-called magic swordsmen are those whose magic is not particularly powerful, so they need to combine it with close combat to unleash their full potential.
At the very least, magic swordsmen usually cannot trigger the "Mage" development ability and cannot become high-level Mage, so they need to find another way.
If you already possess powerful magic from the start, you can simply pursue the path of Mage; why bother learning melee combat?
While magic swordsmen are indeed a very rare profession, capable of fighting alone without the need for teammates' protection, they also lack the ability of pure Mage to turn the tide with a single blow or save the day in adversity.
Even the strongest magic swordsman can only deal with the monsters in front of him at most.
Unlike Mage, who can unleash a powerful spell that kills monsters in hordes, especially Mage have mastered wide-area annihilation magic, who can clear the battlefield with sheer firepower and kill far more monsters than a whole team of warriors could fight.
When encountering extremely powerful monsters like the floor master, Mage's magic can be a game-changer. The damage inflicted by countless warriors wielding swords and slashing at the enemy is probably less than the damage caused by a Mage's wide-area annihilation spell.
Therefore, most people probably find it hard to understand why Leo, who clearly possesses powerful magic, doesn't focus on developing his skills as Mage.
Ais didn't say anything about it.
She knew that Leo simply didn't want to be protected all the time.
If it weren't for the fact that he had also developed exceptionally well in abilities other than "Demonic Power," even to the point of breaking through the limits of his ability values and reaching SS rank, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people, Riveria Ljos Alf might have advised him to focus on becoming Mage instead of being distracted by melee combat.
But now, Riveria Ljos Alf probably won't say anything more.
With skills like [Crossed Star Swords] and the development ability of "Swordsman", it would be foolish for Leo not to learn melee combat.
It was precisely because of his unwavering dedication that he was able to achieve superhuman accomplishments in both melee combat and magic.
Now, he can be either a high-level swordsman or a professional Mage. Except for the position of healer, he can take on any position without any problem.
Asfi belatedly realized this, and the way she looked at Leo changed.
Only now did she realize how terrifying the man in front of her was.
He is definitely more than just a genius with an astonishing rate of growth.
While growing at an astonishing rate, this man also developed no flaws, becoming a near-omnipotent being.
Asfi could already guess that Leo must have accumulated considerable potential before each level up, and even learned some very rare and powerful skills, otherwise he wouldn't have such terrifying strength now that he has just become a Lv.5.
Just how incredibly valuable a treasure has the Loki Familia stumbled upon?
Asfi was somewhat envious.
As the leader of the clan, she couldn't help but think about how much effort such a prodigy would save her and how much help he could provide if he appeared in her clan.
Thinking about how much effort she put into this clan every day, Asfi wanted to sigh.
Leo had no idea that his performance had attracted the covetous eyes of other clans.
Seeing that the number of monsters was increasing rather than decreasing, and that a large number of monsters were quickly pouring into the passage that had just been cleared, he immediately unleashed another [Meteor Dance] attack.
With Leo leading the way, the entire team was not hindered by a large number of monsters and moved forward even faster than before.
Thanks to this, as the group progressed, the Dungeon finally began to show changes that had never occurred before.
"This is----?"
Everyone looked around, slightly taken aback.
I don't know when it started, but the terrain, which resembles tree bark, roots, and flower bushes, gradually developed into an uneven, rocky structure.
The surrounding green began to fade, replaced by a pale red.
The road gradually transformed into a cave, the monster's presence faded, and a chilling silence descended, causing everyone to become more alert and slow their pace.
After advancing for a while, the group finally arrived at a turning point.
"What... what is this?!"
With Lulune's exclamation, everyone stopped in their tracks.
They were unable to move forward.
Before them, a massive wall appeared abruptly, large enough to block the entire passage.
The walls had a creepy sheen and a swollen surface, looking like both a living thing and a plant. They were green all over, like a wall of flesh, completely different in structure and nature from the surrounding stone walls.
This disgusting green wall of flesh, like a malignant tumor growing inside the Dungeon, blocked Leo and his companions' path completely.
Everyone was certain that this was definitely not something the Dungeon had possessed before.
This is absolutely—an abnormal situation.