Unwilling Heart, Entering the Dungeon Again

Ais wore a serious expression, the image of the incoming Broadsword growing larger in her eyes.

Ais watched the figure of Liber following close behind the Broadsword.

She flicked her Rapier upward, knocking the incoming Broadsword aside.

She then crouched low, putting strength into her feet.

Her lithe body flipped in mid-air, dodging the incoming Greatsword horizontally.

After the evasive flip, Ais thrust her Rapier straight toward Liber's face while still in the air, forcing him to step back.

The moment her feet touched the ground after descending, she exerted force and lunged forward, her entire body closing the distance along the line of her previous thrust.

Liber pulled back to create distance, but seeing the tip of the Rapier drawing ever closer, he steeled himself, steadied his footing, and pulled the swinging Greatsword back toward his body.

Ais felt the air currents from the retracting blade; compared to the Rapier in her hand, the Greatsword held a distinct advantage in both blade length and width.

She decisively held her Rapier at an angle to her side to meet the incoming Greatsword, then allowed the force of the impact to carry her body to the side. After flying a short distance, she landed lightly and stood straight once more.

After retracting his sword, Liber reset his stance, holding the Greatsword vertically in front of him with both hands.

He let out a breath and refocused his gaze on Ais, who had just landed.

Ais watched Liber reset his stance and squared up to face him again.

In their brief exchange, Liber had held a slight advantage due to the reach of his Greatsword, momentarily suppressing Ais as she held back her full strength.

Liber used magic to recall the Broadsword that had fallen in the distance into his inventory, gripping his Greatsword tightly.

The two stood in a quiet standoff for a while until the chirping of a bird broke the atmosphere, and they lunged at each other once more, their weapons clashing violently.

At times, the figure wielding the Greatsword slid across the ground; at others, the golden-haired figure flipped through the air.

In the courtyard of the Twilight Manor, the crisp sound of metal striking metal rang out intermittently.

As time passed, the sunlight grew increasingly dazzling, and the temperature in the sun-drenched courtyard became somewhat sweltering.

After a sharp clatter of steel, Liber planted his Greatsword into the ground with both hands to slow his backward slide.

Once he came to a stop, he leaned on the hilt, panting heavily as beads of sweat the size of peas rolled down his face and splashed onto the grass. He was drenched.

His face was flushed with heat, and his eyes felt dry and sore.

He looked back at Ais and saw her standing in place, her breathing steadying after only a few light gasps.

Her slender figure remained unshaken, and there was no sweat on her face; she looked full of energy and still had plenty of stamina left.

Seeing Ais looking so relaxed, Liber took a few deep breaths to soothe his racing lungs. He straightened his posture and said to Ais with a wry smile.

"Let's call it a day. My stamina is completely spent, and I need a rest. I still have to head to the Dungeon this afternoon."

Ais looked hesitant at his words, but she nodded.

Seeing the Greatsword put away, Liber stretched his shoulders on the spot and said to Ais, "Thank you, Miss Ais. I really got a good workout during training today."

"You're welcome," Ais said, hesitating for a moment. "You can just call me Ais."

"I can, but... why is that?" Liber asked, somewhat puzzled.

"New member. I want to be friends," Ais said, a faint blush appearing on her fair face.

Liber was stunned for a moment, then laughed. "We're all members of the Familia; aren't we already friends?"

"Mm." A faint trace of happiness appeared on Ais's usually indifferent face, making her flower-like features appear even more radiant.

Liber watched Ais's smiling face, momentarily lost in thought, before awkwardly looking away under her curious gaze.

He hurriedly said, "It's getting late. I'm going back to my room to wash up. I still need to explore the Dungeon this afternoon, so I'll be going."

He turned and left the courtyard in a fluster, leaving Ais to watch his retreating back with a look of confusion.

Back in his room, Liber took a moment to rest and chided himself, "That was pathetic. I couldn't even handle a little smile."

He sighed and pushed the incident to the back of his mind. After a quick wash and changing his clothes, he prepared to head out to the Adventurer's Street.

Passing through the courtyard, he felt a sense of relief when he saw that the figure from before was gone.

Liber then realized what he was doing and smiled helplessly, hurrying out to make the most of his time.

By noon, the Adventurer's Street was packed with people.

After grabbing a quick meal, Liber arrived at a weapon shop that sold arrows.

He had intended to buy javelins, but the money he'd earned from yesterday's Dungeon adventure wasn't enough to buy even two decent ones. If the quality was too poor, they wouldn't last long and would only take up space in his inventory.

He decided to buy arrows to stock up on ammunition instead.

Arrows were much cheaper than javelins; he could buy over two hundred arrows for the price of two javelins.

He placed the purchased arrows directly into his inventory, ignoring the surprised looks from those around him.

He needed to accelerate his growth. His inventory was praised by Loki precisely because of its convenience; if he remained too cautious to use it, he would only slow his own progress.

Recalling his training with Ais that morning, he felt a sense of frustration.

Even though he knew she was a genius, it wasn't until they actually crossed blades that he truly felt the gap between them.

Ais Wallenstein, who became a Level 5 adventurer at the age of fourteen, is currently hailed as the fastest-rising genius in Orario.

Even though her appearance still seemed youthful, she made Liber, who was around the same age, feel a chasm-like distance between them.

Harboring resentment toward his own weakness, Liber walked briskly toward the Dungeon.

He hurried along the path, arriving at the second floor and heading toward the third.

At the end of the passage, whether drawn by Liber's unabashed footsteps or not, he could not say.

A series of roars, faint and hidden within the darkness, began to emerge.

Liber's gaze shifted, but his pace did not falter; his eyes remained fixed straight ahead, staring into the depths of the tunnel.

There, pairs of crimson eyes lit up in the darkness as a pack of Kobolds gathered.

Suddenly, one Kobold panted rapidly, as if unable to wait any longer; it broke away from the group and tentatively stepped toward Liber.

Liber did not stop his advance, continuing to move forward.

The Kobold let out a sharp roar as if provoked, lunging toward him.

As the Kobold's figure drew closer, a Broadsword gradually appeared in Liber's hand.

The Kobold's eyes flashed with ferocity, and it unsheathed its sharp claws, swiping at Liber.

The next second, the Kobold's claws were parried by the Broadsword.

"Bang!"

The sound of flesh colliding rang out abruptly.

Holding off the Kobold's claws, Liber clenched his free hand into a fist and drove it into the creature's hideous head.

The Kobold let out a howl of pain; its body, much smaller than a human's, was sent flying by Liber's strike and crashed to the ground.

Seeing their companion knocked away, the other Kobolds could no longer restrain themselves and charged forward all at once.

Watching the group of Kobolds rush toward him, Liber's combative spirit was stirred once more.

Thinking of his battle with Ais that morning, his heart was filled with the frustration of defeat and anger at himself.

Liber approached the wailing Kobold on the ground, grabbed it, and threw it with all his might at the oncoming pack.

A few cries of pain erupted from the group as the charging Kobolds were struck by their own kin.

The monster group's advance fell into stagnation and chaos.

As the Kobolds tripped over one another, those behind them saw the obstacles and halted their advance, hesitating.

At that moment, Liber charged forward.

He closed the distance to the chaotic front line and, taking advantage of the confusion, thrust his Broadsword through two Kobolds at once.

Blood splattered across Liber's cold face, and accompanied by shrill roars, the two monsters began the process of fading away.

Watching their companions vanish, the Kobolds ignored the ones tripping on the ground and trampled forward, rushing toward Liber.

Seeing this, Liber pulled a Greatsword from his inventory, used magic to lighten its weight, and began to spin his body with both hands, knocking away the monsters that lunged at him.

The Broadsword in his hand was suspended by magic at his side, used to deal with any Kobolds the Greatsword missed, parrying the claws and fangs of those attempting close-quarters attacks.

Once the Greatsword sent them flying, he used the Broadsword to pierce their bodies in mid-air, killing them instantly.

Time passed.

The noisy cavern gradually fell silent.

Liber cleaved the final Kobold before him in two with his Greatsword.

As the Magic Stone dropped, this brief battle came to an end.

Liber looked at his blood-stained clothes and weapons, half of his face covered in the monsters' gore.

He watched the scattered limbs around him slowly fade away.

A look of dissatisfaction filled Liber's cold face.

This was not enough.

He whispered to himself.

His heart beat violently. The blood in his veins flowed rapidly, and his body temperature rose.

"More monsters. More intense battles."

Liber's heart was filled with excitement and discontent.

Like a berserker, he dragged his Greatsword along the ground, stepping deeper and deeper into the lower levels of the Dungeon.