Chapter 42: Battle, and Craving a Monster Party!
When he left the Familia home, Hestia was still sound asleep in bed. After preparing for the Dungeon exploration.
Liam didn't waste any time.
These two weapons lent to him by Tsubaki, the captain of the "Hephaestus Familia," today could be said to be the last day of the trial card.
As for today's goal.
He had already made plans before setting out: to squeeze out the remaining value of the rented weapons and push as deep into the Dungeon as possible.
Through combat training with monsters, improve his all-around ability scores.
The process, of course, was the tedious and dull Dungeon exploration segment, but today, for Liam, the desire to explore was surging!
"Can I, in today's exploration…"
"Raise all ability scores, except for magic, to the S-rank level?"
After the sublimation of his adventurer level, all ability scores on the panel would be cleared, but it was only the panel that was cleared.
The numerical values improved through training would be retained; his strength would only be enhanced!
After all, it was building upon the original foundation, continuing to improve his ability scores.
Maxing out ability scores at every level, relying on the cumulative effect of these values, was how one could gain the capital to fight above one's level.
Regarding future development.
Liam's goal was very clear: rely on the skills provided by the "Sword Soul Template" for combat, and use the Falna system to improve his physical constitution.
Combining both.
To ultimately become an all-around, no-blind-spots, stats-and-mechanics monster in the Labyrinth City Orario, and even in the entire DanMachi world!
If someone really questioned whether Liam was using cheats, then he would think their vision was very short-sighted, only seeing the cheat system and the stats.
Without seeing the sweat and effort he put in!
Just like Orario at five in the morning, looking out at the central plaza, there were absolutely no adventurers gathered here.
Having experienced yesterday's Dungeon exploration, extending combat endurance was crucial.
His bento was a double portion, specially purchased by waking up the restaurant owner to prepare it. He also filled a canteen with clean drinking water.
The Ganesha Familia's guard, maintaining order in front of Babel, was already stationed here. After checking his adventurer identification.
They let him pass directly without asking any questions.
Passing through the spiral staircase connecting to the underground, looking at the floors that couldn't be more familiar, Liam's expression was already accustomed to it.
Yet, his heart was full of anticipation.
"Let's go!"
After passing through the safe floors, in those cave passages not yet cleared by adventurers, low-level monsters like Goblins and Kobolds.
Were naturally attracted by the sound of Liam's footsteps.
However, with the improvement of his ability scores, weapons, and Sword Soul class level, plus the buff effect of the "Flowing Stance" skill activated in advance.
Liam simply swung his sword, and the erupted sword aura tore them apart!
A clear exploration target.
He didn't pick up the drops from the kills. Mainly because the value of these magic stones, compared to the short exploration time, the latter was clearly more important!
Monsters like Dungeon Lizards and Geckos were similarly unable to stop his advance.
When a large number of monsters gathered in a straight passage, Liam didn't care about stamina consumption and directly used skills to clear the way.
"Triple Slash."
Killing monsters for training, his experience points were also slowly increasing.
6th Floor.
7th Floor.
9th Floor.
He wasn't favored by the goddess of luck this time to encounter the rare species Blue Butterfly. After dealing with a One-Horned Rabbit that delusionally tried to ambush him from underground.
This relatively deeper-level monster.
Liam still had time to automatically pick up the magic stone dropped upon its kill. This could also be considered as contributing to his future weapon configuration.
"This passage, is it the one leading to the 10th floor?"
After clearing the monsters in the current area, the passage that finally appeared before him, Liam appropriately paused his steps, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes.
Recalling Eina's introduction yesterday, various Dungeon mechanisms would appear here. And the most dangerous were those dense fogs that obscured vision, easily preventing adventurers from discerning surrounding dangers.
Without the "Asura's" Homicidal Intent Perception.
Facing the One-Horned Rabbit's attack was purely reliant on the hunter's instinct honed through combat during this period.
The floors ahead might hold danger, yet it still couldn't stop Liam's steps. However, compared to the speedrun state of the first half of the floors.
His attitude gradually became more steady.
Passing through winding floor passages, he arrived at the 10th-floor area, where the danger level increased.
The surrounding environment changed drastically. It didn't present a complex network of cave passages like the previous floors.
More like…
A lost forest, where the trees had withered due to lack of sunlight. A mist, like a tenacious sore, enveloped the area.
"Visibility is very poor."
"If One-Horned Rabbit monsters appear, it's very easy to be ambushed…"
Standing at the relatively safe entrance of the floor passage, Liam briefly scanned his surroundings. Based on experience, he quickly made a judgment in his mind.
Floor exploration couldn't be rushed.
And in the 10th-floor area, Orc-like monsters would appear for the first time. Their overall threat was completely incomparable to a Minotaur!
He didn't stop.
The dense fog caused by the mechanisms reduced visibility to 5 meters.
Even though it was an area Level 1 adventurers could set foot in, Liam didn't let his guard down just because of his inflated stats.
The danger was simply the extremely poor visibility, allowing lurking monsters to attack adventurers silently.
"It's easy to lose one's bearings…"
The occasional crisp sound of stepping on withered branches made the surrounding environment even more eerie. Just as Liam was choosing a direction to explore.
The sense of crisis honed through countless battles.
Instantly surged deep within his heart. His body instinctively dodged to the side and rear, while the Orc's giant axe swing directly cut through the mist.
Tearing a withered tree trunk into pieces.
After Liam created a safe distance, he noticed the monster that had suddenly appeared to his side and rear. His tightly furrowed brow didn't relax.
No different from his impression, it possessed a human-like body more bloated than a Minotaur's.
Most eye-catching was the pig's head growing on the neck of its bloated body. Its crimson eyes were exceptionally conspicuous in the mist.
"Orc?"
"."
As a polite return for the ambush, the sword aura generated by Liam's upward sword swing quickly swept towards the Orc in front.
The air swept up by the sword aura slash gradually cleared the vision ahead.
He could barely make out the exceptionally ferocious-looking pig-headed Orc. This sharp slash gave it no chance to continue its attack!
It directly severed the Orc's massive body.
The monster's corpse dissolved into gray dust, completely disappearing into the Dungeon. The magic stone that dropped onto the muddy ground didn't make a dull sound…
"Feels like the training intensity still isn't enough."
Relying on the various buff effects of the "Flowing Stance" skill, no monster in the upper levels could withstand the slash of his sword aura.
To put it another way.
Having finally pushed his exploration to the current area, Liam craved challenging battles to improve his ability scores.
Through the brief battle just now.
He clearly realized that the source of danger on the 10th floor wasn't the Orcs, but the mist mechanism that complicated the surrounding environment!
"So."
"What are the conditions to trigger a Monster Party?"
Liam's face showed some annoyance. He could only say he hadn't considered it thoroughly enough yesterday; he had actually forgotten to ask how to trigger a Monster Party.
He couldn't possibly pin his hopes of maxing out his ability scores on the rarely appearing Young Dragon boss, right?
(End of this chapter)