"Wait! Isn't that an absurd number of monsters?!"
Lefiya cried out in shock.
A vast chamber on the fifth floor of the Dungeon had become a boiling nest of monsters.
The Goblins' snarls, the Hellhounds' low growls, and the War Shadows' soundless movements merged into a suffocating tide of death.
From the passageways, behind the pillars, and even from fissures in the ceiling, shadowy figures of every shape poured forth without end. Their numbers far exceeded anything one should expect on an upper-floor expedition.
Lefiya's palms were slick with nervous sweat.
Th-this is way too many!
The confidence she'd once had as a Lv.3 mage had vanished without a trace. Forced back to the strength of a Lv.1, she was once again painfully aware of how small and fragile she was.
That long-forgotten fear seized her.
Yet amid this despairing sea of monsters, two figures stood like rocks, steadily facing the raging waves.
Bell moved like a bolt of lightning, darting among several War Shadows as they closed in on him like phantoms.
A shadowy claw silently tore through the air, attacking from the side.
At the last possible moment, he used Flash Step again!
Whoosh!
Bell's figure vanished from where he stood, as if he'd never been there.
The next instant, he appeared behind the War Shadow that had tried to ambush him. The short blade in his hand flashed with resolute cold light as it pierced the monster's core with precision!
The action had flowed seamlessly. His movements still carried a novice's awkwardness, but his decisiveness and timing were already far beyond yesterday's.
As soon as he finished off one, Bell found his gaze irresistibly drawn to the battle on the other side.
Not far away, Ais faced several War Shadows attacking at once, along with a surging crowd of Goblins. Her expression remained as calm as a frozen lake.
Her red lips parted, and she murmured a very short spell: "Awaken."
[Ariel]!
In an instant, countless visible streams of emerald wind appeared from nowhere, winding around her limbs and slender waist.
The air shrieked, and her golden hair whipped wildly in the raging currents.
Without a word, her body became a streak of emerald lightning that tore through the eye!
"Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!"
Her sword flashed too fast to follow; only a few emerald trails flickered past.
Before her, the outcome was the same for every monster, whether an ordinary Goblin or one of the "Rookie Killers"—War Shadows with such uncanny speed that they terrified novice adventurers.
Her icy blade pierced their Magic Stone cores with unfailing precision!
Their bodies couldn't even react before the emerald wind tore them apart, leaving only Magic Stones tumbling to the ground and dust drifting away.
Bell was astonished.
So this was one of Orario's top adventurers...
Even with her strength forcibly suppressed by the gods to the same Lv.1 level as mine, her combat instincts, honed through countless life-or-death battles, and her consummate mastery of technique were still this incredible...
The enormous gap made Bell feel his own weakness all over again.
He steadied himself, and a blazing fighting spirit rose in his heart.
Behind the three of them, Thor watched their battles.
He'd been paid, so it was his duty to do a proper job as their instructor. That was only basic courtesy.
Bell needed no explanation. As Thor's first Familia member, he'd only been an adventurer for a few days. His technique and combat instincts were still rough.
This uncut gem would need plenty of time and care to polish.
As for Ais, a top-level Lv.5 adventurer, there wasn't much to teach her about combat technique.
When it came to magic, Ais had only the short-chant spell she'd just used: [Ariel].
She also had two skills: [Avenger], which greatly increased her attack power against monsters, and [Lil Rafaga], which let her wrap [Ariel] around her sword and unleash it in a single strike.
She didn't have many skills or spells, but she seemed highly proficient with them.
And then there was Lefiya...
In Thor's eyes, this mage was the genius closest to Bell...
The girl before him had a soul that shimmered with magical radiance. She was like a star of magic, her internal magical power at least three to five times that of a mage at the same level.
Though she was only a Lv.3 mage, her firepower was at Lv.5.
And of the three spells she possessed, one was a summoning spell called [Elf Ring].
This spell was incredibly overpowered. It allowed Lefiya to use any spell that other elves could learn. There were prerequisites, however: she had to completely understand the effects and chant of the spell she wanted to use.
While most people could use at most three spells, Lefiya could use dozens, even hundreds, of elven spells.
That was why people called her the [Thousand Elf].
It was just that her performance in battle...
As Thor watched the others, monsters had also set their sights on Lefiya behind him.
Several Goblins and a Hellhound took advantage of the moment she was focused on chanting and lunged at her from the flank. Their foul breath nearly brushed her face!
"O proud warriors, O forest archers. The advancing marauders are before you; take up your bows. Answer your brethren's—"
Lefiya's chant was urgent and high-pitched, but with claws and fangs right in front of her, the elaborate elven chant was far too slow and vulnerable.
Her heart tightened, and fear seized her in an instant.
It's over! There's no way I can finish the chant in time!
Just as danger struck, a beam of pure energy shot through the air with a whoosh!
It pierced the head of the Hellhound in front and obliterated it instantly!
Thor had saved her with [Mystic Shot].
Thor's figure blurred, and he was at her side in an instant.
Lefiya's talent was extraordinary, but she had very little combat experience. As a result, she struggled to bring her terrifying firepower to bear on a real battlefield.
Thor bent down, swiftly picked up a crude wooden club that had fallen beside a Goblin's corpse, and gave it an experimental swing.
The club was sturdy enough.
But the danger wasn't over.
Perhaps because Thor had gone deeper into the Dungeon—or perhaps due to the Dungeon's own malice—the rock walls around him and Lefiya began to creak.
More cracks split open in an instant!
Several times more Goblins and War Shadows surged out like a tide, snarling as they surrounded the two of them on three sides.
"Ais, Lefiya." Thor's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly through the monsters' roars and reached Ais in the distance.
At the sound of his voice, Ais dispatched the last War Shadow before her with a quick strike of her rapier. She immediately turned, fixing her gaze on Thor.
Thor's eyes swept over the two of them. "I'm going to demonstrate the skills and combat techniques I plan to teach you. Watch closely. I'll only demonstrate them once."
Were they going to learn skills now?
Ais opened her eyes wide, intent on seeing everything as clearly as possible.
Earlier, when Thor had asked what skill she wanted to learn, she hadn't been able to answer. She'd simply told him to decide for her.
She hadn't expected him to make up his mind in just a little over ten minutes.
Lefiya clutched her staff, unable to help feeling anticipation rise within her.
Before you continue