At the entrance to the Dungeon beneath Babel.
Liber and Lefiya walked side by side toward the Dungeon.
They moved along with the flow of people. Among the crowd were all kinds of beast people, elves, and Amazons dressed in revealing clothes.
A human and an elf traveling together didn't attract much attention.
Still, now and then, an adventurer passing by glanced at Lefiya.
Their gazes held a mixture of amazement and desire, but they quickly hid it and looked away from the two with a hint of fear.
As the two walked, a fair amount of space opened up around them.
Lefiya seemed a little uneasy amid the crowd, gripping her staff tightly with both hands.
As she and Liber walked and discussed things, she often stumbled over her words, and their conversation didn't flow very smoothly.
Once the two reached the first floor of the Dungeon, the crowd gradually thinned, dispersing into the various cave passages.
Only then did Lefiya let out a soft breath, looking somewhat more relaxed.
Liber looked at Lefiya, who no longer seemed as tense as before.
"Then, as we discussed on the way here, let's head straight to the fifth floor." Liber checked their plans with Lefiya.
"Ah, all right." Lefiya answered as if startled.
"I mean, there were just a lot of people earlier. You're already a Level 3, second-tier adventurer. Why are you so nervous?"
Liber looked at Lefiya with some exasperation.
"I... I've never teamed up with anyone else on my own before, and there were so many strangers."
Lefiya said, a little embarrassed.
"So you've always adventured alone?" Liber asked, somewhat surprised.
"I started studying in the School District when I was eight. By the time I left the School District and joined the Loki Familia, I was already Level 2. After that, I mostly studied under Lady Riveria."
Lefiya explained to Liber.
"The School District?" Liber repeated, the information still a little hazy to him.
Even though he had secret information of his own, some of his memories had grown hazy with the passage of time.
"It's a place where elves can safely grow stronger. I spent a long time there.
"I joined the Loki Familia about a year ago. Back then, Miss Ais had just reached Level 5."
Lefiya told Liber about her past.
"Then, your Level 3..." Liber hesitated.
"Earlier, I joined the Familia's expedition team and adventured with everyone, serving as a rear-guard Mage. Most of my proficiency and experience points came after we returned from the expedition."
Walking alongside Liber, Lefiya lowered her head and spoke with some shame.
At her words, Liber stopped in his tracks, his face going blank. Lefiya walked a few more steps before she realized.
She stopped and turned around, looking at Liber timidly. "Is something wrong?"
Looking at Lefiya's adorable, pitiful expression, like that of a little animal, Liber wrestled with himself for a moment, then sighed helplessly and caught up with her.
Seeing Liber walking ahead, Lefiya hurried after him.
"We'll talk about the rest later." Liber put his other feelings aside for now. "There are only two of us at the moment, so I'll take the front line, and you'll provide fire support from the rear. Is that all right?"
Lefiya nodded vigorously to show her agreement.
Like the classic warrior-mage-healer trio found in traditional online games, the three roles were warrior, mage, and priest.
Even though adventurers who explored the Dungeon in a party rarely had people with magic and healing abilities, three was still the basic number for a team.
Adventurers who explored the Dungeon in parties generally believed that the best way to explore it was in groups of three.
The three members were responsible for offense, defense, and support, taking the roles of front guard, middle guard, and rear guard.
The front guard handled the main attacks and was generally also responsible for drawing the monsters' attention, blocking their advance, and preventing their companions in the rear from being hurt.
The middle guard was responsible for defense. They had to watch the enemy's attacks and sudden changes in battle, and, if they were able, assist the front guard in attacking the enemy to ease the pressure on them.
The support member in the rear was the rear guard. As the name suggested, they supported the two in front while also defending the back.
The rear guard could attack enemies with magic or heal the injuries of the other two. If they had no magic, they could also use equipment like bows and crossbows, or special items, to distract enemies and provide support.
This common, clearly defined party structure was highly effective when exploring the Dungeon.
Unless they had no way to form a party, the Guild and most Familias explored the Dungeon in teams of three.
Earlier, when they entered the Dungeon, most of the people moving along together had been groups of three or more, apart from the adventurers traveling alone.
The two were talking and clarifying the details of their party when—
"There's a sound up ahead." Lefiya warned Liber as he walked along, talking to her.
At her words, Liber turned to look ahead.
The ground in the passage ahead gradually bulged upward, forming a small mound of earth. Something stirred beneath it.
In the quiet passage, a crack suddenly appeared in the rising mound, and the faint sound of cracking stood out sharply.
A strange, faint purple light seeped through the crack.
"Thump, thump..."
The sound of a heartbeat gradually came from within the crack.
A gray-green arm suddenly reached out from the mound, followed by the head of a Goblin.
The monster slowly crawled out of the ground.
The two weren't surprised by the sight.
This wasn't an especially rare occurrence in the Dungeon.
Any adventurer who explored the Dungeon had seen it at least once.
It was the reason monsters in the Dungeon kept appearing without end.
They weren't living creatures that had existed in the Dungeon from the beginning. They were beings brought forth and hatched by the Dungeon itself.
That was how monsters in the Dungeon were born.
Like plants pushing up through the soil, or birds hatching from eggs, monsters "emerged" from the walls or floor of the Dungeon at regular intervals.
As a result, the monsters in the Dungeon could never be killed off, and their numbers never decreased.
People believed this vast underground maze existed beneath the earth as if it had a life and will of its own.
That was also why the types of monsters on each floor were relatively fixed.
They were species that were born on specific floors. Unless something unusual happened, they wandered and gathered only where they had been born.
Just as Lefiya was about to pick up her staff, an arrow shot out from in front of Liber and struck the Goblin that had just emerged from the Dungeon.
Lefiya watched the Goblin, pierced by the arrow and mortally wounded, begin to disappear.
"An arrow?" she asked in surprise.
"My storage magic isn't just for putting things away. I can also fire things out of it. So I prepared some arrows to make fighting enemies easier."
As he spoke, Liber used his space magic to retrieve the Magic Stone dropped by the monster and the arrow.
"That's such a convenient and amazing spell. I thought you had to pick everything up and gather it together before you could store it."
Lefiya said enviously, watching Liber collect everything with his magic without even moving.
Liber turned to look at her, but there was no trace of pride on his face.
"Well, it is convenient, but it doesn't seem to have much direct offensive power. Even though it's called magic, for now it seems more like a handy tool."
"I've heard everyone in the Familia say your magic is far more powerful than that of adventurers at your level. I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself."
He spoke to Lefiya with some curiosity.
"Did they really say that? Hehe, that's a little embarrassing."
Lefiya answered shyly.
"It's just that magic takes a lot out of you, so you can't use it too often. Will that be a problem?"
She asked Liber with some concern.
"Is that so? It's fine. Today, we'll just get a general sense of each other's abilities."
Liber answered with a smile. "Now that we're a team, I'll get to see the true power of your magic later."
"I might disappoint you, so don't put so much pressure on me," Lefiya replied, lacking confidence.
Girl, you need to have a little confidence.
Looking at Lefiya, who always sank into negative feelings, Liber sighed to himself.
As they talked, Liber fired more of the arrows he had stored in his space, taking out the two or three Goblins that came at them from a distance.
The two walked along together, chatting and dealing with the monsters they encountered on the way. After Liber scanned the drops with his gaze, he stored them in the space at his side with his magic.
Once they had crossed the stairs from the fourth floor and reached the Dungeon's fifth floor—
"From here on, our two-person exploration officially begins," Liber said seriously.
"Right!" Lefiya, too, grew serious.
Before you continue