The seventh floor of the Dungeon.
The severed Killer Ant twitched on the ground, its body beginning to disappear.
Looking at the Magic Stone that had fallen in the distance, Liber's longsword slowly appeared in his hand.
He looked at the longsword in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.
Behind him, Lefiya watched him deal with the monster far more easily than before, her face full of surprise.
"Is this your new technique?"
Lefiya asked him curiously.
Hearing her question, Liber retrieved the Magic Stone dropped by the monster, then nodded and replied,
"Yeah, though... to be precise, it's just another way of using my magic."
He looked at Lefiya's puzzled expression and explained seriously, "You know my magic, [Magic Space], lets me carry a personal space around with me, right?"
Lefiya nodded, but said nothing, still watching him with curiosity.
Seeing how patiently Lefiya listened, Liber smiled and said,
"Actually, this space created by my magic is like a box.
"I can freely open multiple entrances and exits, and place them anywhere outside that I can observe."
"After the abnormal incident, I started wondering how else I could expand its uses and improve my strength.
"After thinking hard about it, I suddenly came up with the idea of manipulating the doors inside the space."
As he explained, he used the same method again to kill a monster in the distance that was within their field of vision.
"Could I open the entrance and exit inside my personal space at the same time, and bring them as close together as possible?
"If so, I'd only need to place the passage leading out of the space somewhere I can observe. Then I could swing a weapon and kill a target from a distance, couldn't I?"
Liber laughed as he spoke,
"As you can see, I succeeded.
"After trying it out, I found it uses less magic than [Levitation], and lets me make better use of my physical abilities. My magic reserves aren't that great yet, after all, so I need to conserve them while adventuring.
"Also, as I explored my personal space, I came up with some other ways to use it. Like this."
As he spoke, he stopped. Lefiya, walking behind him, stopped as well.
Liber waited a little, and soon saw several monsters in the distance notice them and start charging over.
He reached out and stared ahead. Ripples appeared in the air in front of the monsters rushing toward them, overlapping and crisscrossing densely like the surface of a lake in the rain.
When the monsters entered the rippling space, a flash of silver suddenly caught Lefiya's eye. The light made her squint.
Once her eyes had recovered a little, Lefiya opened them slightly and studied the glimmering silver light ahead.
The monsters that had just entered the ripples were instantly chopped to pieces, their limbs scattering across the ground like minced meat.
Blades of light swept through the ripples. Their afterimages grew denser and their speed increased, until the sharp whooshing sounds blended into one continuous roar.
After the monsters charging at them had all been minced, the metal storm of blades in front of them stopped getting faster, but it still wouldn't stop.
A moment later.
Bam!!
A dull impact sounded from the ground ahead. A large chunk of rock burst out from the spot that had been struck, scattering in every direction and raising a cloud of dust.
The surroundings suddenly fell silent. Only Liber's rapid breathing echoed through the area.
The dense flashes of swordlight vanished all at once, though their afterimages still lingered in Lefiya's eyes.
She blinked hard and shook her head. The afterimages slowly faded.
Liber's breathing gradually settled, and the dust raised by the impact began to clear.
The ripples that had appeared in front of the monsters were completely gone. Liber walked over to where the swordlight had appeared.
Lefiya hurried after him and looked ahead from where Liber stood.
There, just in front of him, a deep crater had suddenly appeared. A sword hilt protruded from its center, the blade buried in the ground.
He bent down, gripped the hilt, and pulled hard. It was the same longsword Liber had been using earlier.
But on closer inspection, the blade was covered in tiny chips and looked somewhat warped.
"Was that flurry of sword shadows what you wanted to show me?"
Lefiya leaned out from beside Liber and asked, looking at the longsword in his hand.
"Yeah." Liber confirmed it, then tried swinging the sword, feeling out the damage as he spoke.
"As you know, neither of my two spells can deal damage directly. After seeing the offensive magic you used before, I started thinking hard about how to make my magic more destructive."
"I kept thinking and thinking, but couldn't come up with anything. So I put the idea aside for a while. Then, after successfully experimenting with the inside of my personal space, I suddenly thought of a solution."
Lefiya watched Liber collect the Magic Stones nearby. Hearing his words, she asked,
"Was it related to the doors you mentioned earlier?"
"Exactly. Like I said, the doors leading in and out of the space can be placed very close together. Even when I launch something out of the space, it already has considerable force.
"So if I open multiple passages in front of me at once and add a little more force each time an object passes through, then in theory, I can accelerate anything I launch without limit."
As he explained, Liber looked at the longsword in his hand. A hint of regret crossed his face as he continued,
"But it seems an object can only be accelerated so far before it can't go any faster.
"Launching an object also puts a lot of wear on it.
"I only bought this sword recently, and it got damaged this badly on its first try. Looks like it won't last much longer."
"Once the object gets fast enough, my perception inside the space can't keep up with its speed. I'll have to think more about how to use this flexibly in ordinary combat."
The regret on his face lasted only a moment. Looking at the crater in front of him, he seemed far more satisfied.
"But it's still pretty powerful."
Hearing that Liber had explored ways to use his magic because of hers, Lefiya blushed and said awkwardly,
"I-I'm sorry for the trouble."
Liber had started walking. Hearing her apology from behind, he froze for a moment, then turned back with an exasperated smile.
"Why are you apologizing? It's not because of you. I was already thinking about how to use my magic better."
"Really?" Lefiya looked at him doubtfully.
Liber stared at her speechlessly, then turned and continued walking without answering.
"Hey, wait for me."
Lefiya hadn't heard his reply. Seeing him walk away, she hurried after him.
"Um, are you sure it wasn't because of me?"
"I already told you, it wasn't. Besides, you need to be more confident. Con-fi-dent. Got it?"
"Mm, I... I'll try..."
"Good grief."
The two gradually walked farther away, their voices carrying through the area before slowly fading into silence.
Babel, the plaza at the Dungeon entrance.
Night fell, and the staff gradually lit the magic-stone streetlamps around the plaza.
The shops along both sides of the street also began lighting their warm-colored lamps. The densely packed crowds seemed even livelier than during the day.
Countless adventurers poured out of the tower's lower levels.
A tall, blonde girl emerged from the bottom of the tower.
Ais's clothes were somewhat rumpled, but they showed no signs of damage or dirt.
Her expression was calm, but a trace of anxiety showed in her eyes.
Thinking about her fight with Liber that day, the sense of urgency in her heart grew stronger.
Ais furrowed her brow slightly. Ignoring the adventurers around her who had started whispering when they saw her, she walked on in silence.
Suddenly, she spotted a familiar figure ahead.
"Lefiya—"
She was just about to call out when she saw the person ahead talking happily with someone beside her.
As the crowd around Lefiya gradually thinned, Ais caught sight of Liber's back as well.
She watched Liber's expressions shift between exasperation and smiles as he spoke to Lefiya, then looked at Lefiya's shy but happy expression.
The innocent girl sensed the strange atmosphere between them and tilted her head.
She murmured softly,
"Lefiya and Liber... are... close?"
Before you continue