"[Arc Ray]"
As the crisp incantation came to an end, the light gathered on the staff was released in the next instant.
A "beam" formed from magic turned into an arc of light, tearing through the ground as it shot toward the remaining Kobolds.
After piercing one Kobold, the enormous beam of light showed no sign of slowing. It changed direction and pursued the others.
The Kobolds it struck either vanished on the spot after being pierced by the beam, or had part of their bodies sheared off as it grazed them. The rest couldn't escape, no matter how hard they tried. The curved beam kept catching up to them.
Watching Lefiya eliminate the remaining Kobolds with a single spell, Liber couldn't help but marvel.
"So this is the true power of magic?"
After finishing her spell, Lefiya let out a small breath. At his words, she smiled shyly.
The spell Lefiya had just used, Arc Ray, was one of the three spells she possessed.
It was a beam-type single-target spell that could automatically aim at and pursue enemies at great speed.
It was a short-chant spell, so its casting time was brief.
Its automatic tracking was something Liber envied. Once successfully cast, it was guaranteed to hit its target.
But in terms of power alone, the spell wasn't supposed to be this strong.
It was only because of Lefiya's formidable magical ability and the support of her skill that this normally weak single-target spell had become what it was just now. Ordinarily, it would have run out of power after eliminating one or two monsters.
At Level 3, almost no one could do this. In Orario, only famous Level 1 Mages possessed such power.
Having seen firsthand the magic that everyone praised Lefiya for—the kind that could rival Level 5 magic even at Level 3—Liber couldn't help but marvel.
Suddenly, a long tongue shot straight at Liber.
He reacted in time, cutting it off with the broad sword in his hand. Then he launched an arrow from his space toward the direction the tongue had come from.
He looked that way as well.
There, a large lizard with tea-brown skin and a long, broad body hung upside down from the ceiling of the passageway. Its full length looked close to the height of an adult human.
This was the strange monster known as a Dungeon Lizard, commonly found throughout the first few floors of the Dungeon.
Behind the pinned lizard, Liber saw many more lizards crawling silently toward them in all directions.
After killing the Dungeon Lizard, Liber saw the monster horde converging on them.
Instead of charging in as he usually did, he let go of his broad sword and had it float beside him. Then he took a greatsword from his space and gripped it with both hands.
Liber stood his ground, calmly facing the monsters with his sword ready.
Behind him, a clear voice, like a skylark's, rang out.
"[O liberated arrow of light, shaft of the sacred tree, I am the master of the bow.]"
Lefiya began chanting Arc Ray again.
The large lizards seemed to sense the danger and crawled rapidly toward the two of them.
"[Strike them down! Fairy Archer!]"
The second part of the chant followed.
As it rang out, many lizards stopped and opened their mouths, spitting out their tongues.
Seeing the attacks fly toward them,
Liber controlled the broad sword beside him, cutting down some of the tongues aimed at Lefiya.
Then he planted the greatsword flat in front of himself like a shield, blocking the incoming tongues. The impact of several attacks drove him back a short distance.
Seeing Liber pushed back, Lefiya's chanting suddenly faltered, and the magic circle beneath her feet disappeared.
Lefiya's spell had been interrupted.
Sensing what had happened behind him, Liber didn't hesitate. He swung his greatsword, knocking away the Dungeon Lizards lunging at him, and quickly cut through the tongues that kept striking at them.
Then he swung his arm, and countless arrowheads suddenly appeared beside him, shooting toward the monsters.
Liber unleashed the dense rain of arrows four or five times in succession.
The arrows repeatedly blanketed the monsters' bodies.
The battle fell abruptly silent. Not a sound came from the monsters.
Only countless arrows and the monsters' dropped items remained on the walls.
After urgently blanketing the area with arrows, Liber looked at the monsters he had completely wiped out and let out a long breath.
Behind him, Lefiya's timid voice came.
"I-I'm sorry."
"You..." Hearing the resentment in Lefiya's voice, Liber turned around, about to speak.
He saw tears already welling in her eyes. They slid down from the corners as she hurriedly wiped them away.
Liber softened his tone, but his expression remained cold as he spoke to Lefiya sternly.
"You handled the monsters earlier very well with your magic. Why did you suddenly stop casting just now?"
Compared to a three-person team, a two-person team faced greater pressure from their enemies overall. If either person made even a small mistake, the other's chances of encountering danger rose considerably.
Lefiya was a pure back-line Mage. Aside from attacking from a distance with magic and providing fire support, there was almost nothing else she could do.
Taking this special circumstance into account, Liber had taken on both the front-line and mid-line roles himself.
In this party, Liber had to charge into battle as the front line and draw the enemies' attacks. He also had to hold back every monster and make sure none broke through to reach Lefiya.
That was why back-line support was so important for this two-person team. Liber had been confident that Lefiya would have his back.
"I-I was too nervous and scared."
"I'm sorry I couldn't help..."
Lefiya didn't dare meet Liber's eyes.
It had been the same during the expedition. The Familia hadn't explored very far, but even so, she'd been with everyone else in the Familia, so she hadn't been as nervous and scared.
She'd always been nervous when facing monsters alone. Sometimes she got so scared that she couldn't control herself and suddenly stopped casting.
Liber sighed helplessly.
"Now I see why the executives arranged for a Level 2 adventurer like you to team up with a newcomer like me."
Lefiya lowered her head in silence, as if she were desperately trying to hide herself.
Liber scanned their surroundings, then used magic to collect and store the arrows and the monsters' dropped items.
He looked at Lefiya, who seemed to be shrinking in on herself, and rubbed the furrow between his brows.
Then he patted Lefiya on the shoulder. Startled, she looked up.
A shamefaced blush colored her face. Her eyes were red, still faintly wet at the corners, and she looked shy and fragile.
"I've got a general idea of what's going on. But since we've teamed up, I'll do my best to help you overcome this weakness."
Liber crossed his arms and looked at her seriously.
"Don't worry, I'm not blaming you. Everyone in the Familia not only trusts me to go on an adventure with you; they also believe that, as you continue adventuring, you'll become a Mage like Riveria."
"Really?"
Lefiya looked at him and spoke softly.
"Really," Liber said with conviction.
"You believe in me too, Liber? That I can become like Riveri..." Lefiya's voice grew softer and softer as she spoke. By the end, it was barely audible.
"Everyone includes me, of course. One or two failures don't mean anything." Seeing that Lefiya looked a little more encouraged, Liber continued to cheer her on.
"Pull yourself together. We haven't finished exploring yet."
"Okay." Lefiya wiped the corners of her eyes and regained her confidence.
Just as the two of them continued exploring,
on the sixth floor of the Dungeon, many monsters were rushing toward the stairs leading up.
An adventurer ran with all his might, a horde of dark silhouettes chasing him from behind.
He sprinted along the passageway leading upward, shedding his gear and weapons as he went to lighten his load and pick up speed.
He reached a bend in the upward staircase.
Suddenly, a Goblin lying in ambush around the corner attacked him.
The Goblin struck his lower leg with a wooden club. His leg bent at a terrible angle as he ran.
A small Goblin had stopped him in his tracks. His body tumbled across the ground from the force of his momentum, and blood began to run down his pant leg.
Even so, he let out a pained howl and kept crawling forward with all his might.
After the attack, the Goblin behind him made no move to hurt him further. After one cry of pain, it fell silent.
As the adventurer struggled to crawl, he felt footsteps drawing near. Hearing the Goblin scream behind him, he turned around, trembling.
His face filled with despair as several black arms grabbed him. He screamed with all his strength.
His cries were cut off abruptly, and his figure vanished completely into the rushing mass of dark monsters.
Only a large patch of scarlet remained on the ground.
But compared to the red tide pursuing the monsters from behind, that scarlet patch looked so dim.
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