Daily Exploration

"Giiiee!"

"Yaa-kaka!"

Shrill, grating cries echoed through the dim space.

Monsters resembling little demons shouted strange noises as they charged at the pair of boy and girl.

They were pitch-black all over, with oddly proportioned oversized heads bearing a single sharp horn. From a distance, the horns looked like they were made of stone.

The abrupt horns and large heads made their heads seem ill-matched to their long, slender bodies.

Though their bodies looked strange, they moved with speed and agility, leaping about with a vigor at odds with their appearance.

A long, thin tail could just be made out behind each of them. The tip curled like a hook, swinging up and down behind them as they ran.

Facing five monsters that kept bounding closer, the boy gripped the bare sword hilt that had suddenly appeared before him and gave a light horizontal slash.

Ripples silently spread through the air in front of the monsters nearby. A straight metal blade swept through the air, flashing coldly.

The monsters' peculiar heads silently separated from their disproportionate bodies as they ran. After taking a few more steps, they pitched forward, blood seeping from the severed necks.

Their bodies convulsed, while their fallen heads opened and closed their mouths without making a sound. The light gradually faded from their eyes as the monsters began to wither away.

Seeing the attack that had felled their first two companions, the others sprang onto the wall, kicked off it several times, and leaped over the corpses from above.

The monster running at the front was sturdier than those behind it.

It leaped toward the nearest boy, baring a mouthful of fangs and swinging the sharp claws on its right hand.

Too slow.

The boy calmly judged the monster as it lunged at him.

Then, gripping the hilt with one hand, he twisted his wrist and pulled it sideways. A full blade sprouted from the bare hilt as if growing backward through the air.

He held the longsword across himself to block the sharp claws, but the monster suddenly clamped its jaws around the blade and seized it firmly with its other claw near the tip.

Its tail swayed slightly, then whipped toward the boy's waist with a broad swing and a whistling rush of wind.

As the gleaming tail hook struck toward him, his expression remained unchanged as he let go of the hilt.

Instead of dropping, the monster hung suspended in midair, then shot backward.

The distance he created made the monster's attack miss, stirring only a breeze in front of him.

The retreating monster slammed straight into one of its companions, stopping its charge.

The monster that had been sent flying felt the pain and released its grip on the longsword. It watched as the blade fell toward the rippling ground in front of it.

Without making the slightest sound of impact, the longsword sank into the ground as gently as if being lowered into water, leaving no trace.

Seeing that the person before it was unarmed, the remaining monster that had not been stopped picked up speed and lunged for his legs.

The boy kicked the little demon-like monster into the air, then reached up and pulled the vanished longsword back out of the air.

He surged forward and swung the sword in his hand, flashing a dazzling streak of silver.

"Gii—!"

Lower body, torso, head.

The monster fell to the ground in three pieces, surrounded by blood.

The boy raised his arm. The longsword hovered in his palm and began to spin.

Watching the two monsters ahead as they got back to their feet, he took a step and thrust his hand forward. The spinning sword shot toward them with a gust of wind.

The blow pierced both monsters.

""Giiu!""

Their overlapping shrieks were the last cries they let out before dying.

As the flying longsword slowly vanished, the monsters' Magic Stones fell to the ground and sank beneath its surface.

Looking toward the distant enemy shapes shifting in the depths of the mist, the boy called to the girl behind him.

"Lefiya, let's keep going."

"All right, Liber."

The two of them continued into the mist.

On the tenth floor of the Dungeon,

The ground was overgrown with weeds. Compared to the previous floors,

its many open halls and broad, interconnected passageways made it the most expansive floor Liber had explored so far.

White fog from an unknown source billowed endlessly around them, swirling about the two and hindering their view of the surroundings.

Liber was fighting a group of Imps—the same strange monsters he had dealt with earlier.

Starting on the tenth floor, these small monsters began appearing far more often.

They attacked adventurers relentlessly with overwhelming numbers, making them a troublesome breed of monster.

Imps were a little larger than Goblins, though they were about the same height. They were also smarter and much stronger.

Their long, sharp tails gave them greater flexibility in battle.

They never wandered off alone, always fought in groups, and had clearly defined roles.

From an adventurer's perspective, their squads had distinct functions and worked together seamlessly. Unlike other monsters, they didn't simply gather haphazardly and fight on their own. They were better organized than some adventurers' parties.

That was why one adventurer had left this comment in the Guild's Dungeon walkthrough:

'On the mist-shrouded tenth floor, the Imps that attack in groups are more troublesome than the individually powerful Orcs.'

Remembering the comment in the guide, Liber dodged yet another Imp's attack from within the mist.

He was about to counterattack when the Imp slipped back into the fog. Its hazy silhouette suddenly put him in a foul mood.

That was the tenth Imp attack he had seen in a short while.

""Grrr-gii—""

At the strange cries coming from every direction, a group of Imps concealed in the dense fog gradually surrounded the two.

Liber kept Lefiya protected as they slowly moved forward. After dodging another ambush, he came to a stop.

Several shadows shifted in the fog around them.

Footsteps crossed the ground and brushed through the grass on every side. Every so often, he could also hear tails striking against rocks.

If he had been alone, he would probably already have been ready to break through their encirclement.

But for now, he had no intention of retreating. His confidence came from the light gradually brightening behind him—

"[Arc Ray]."

The light traveled faster than sound, piercing the surrounding mist and revealing the monsters.

The instant he caught sight of them, Liber swiftly cut down the nearest Imps one after another. Then it was time for Lefiya's magic to take the stage.

The beam tore through the sea of fog. The pitch-black monsters had only just emerged from the mist before they began to vanish.

In the blink of an eye, every monster had been wiped out.

Before the area had even fallen completely quiet, a rumbling sound came from the nearby passage.

Liber hurriedly gathered the dropped items and led Lefiya down another passage at a run.

As the two ran, the distant rumbling gradually faded.

They stopped running and slowed to a walk.

Lefiya caught her breath and looked at Liber ahead of her. Remembering what had happened a few days ago, she tugged at his sleeve.

Feeling the tug, he turned to look at Lefiya. She seemed a little embarrassed as she spoke.

"Thank you for the other day."

"What are you talking about?"

Liber was a little confused by her thanks.

"I mean what happened after everyone came back from Babel together!"

Seeing his bewildered look, Lefiya puffed out her cheeks and explained.

"Oh! As long as you're not mad at me for scaring you, you don't need to make such a big deal out of thanking me."

Remembering how he had scared her, Liber replied awkwardly.

"I'm not!"

Lefiya shook her head, but before she could continue talking with Liber,

several oval objects dropped from the ceiling ahead. Their silhouettes suddenly grew larger in midair as they swooped toward them.