Chapter 23: No talent? Then repeat! (Please read on) (Patreon)

"No talent? Then I'll just grind."

That was the answer Rozz had settled on — make the most of his time exploring, pushing his stats as high as he could, to be ready for whatever crisis came his way.

Of course.

He absolutely hadn't been thinking about pouring every ounce of his Stamina into exploring while Lili was still serving as his Supporter.

Fortunately, the effort paid off.

After yesterday's stat update with Hestia's help, the effect in actual Dungeon combat was more than the sum of its parts — a clear case of one plus one being greater than two.

He ran into the same Goblins and Cave Lizards as before.

Monsters that had once given him trouble now dropped like stray dogs on the roadside — Rozz kicked them dead without breaking stride.

Soon—

he reached the 6th floor. The floor's environment hadn't changed much; it was still the same maze of cave tunnels.

But Rozz was noticeably more careful now.

After all, according to Eina at the Adventurer Guild, the War Shadow was widely known as the "Newbie Killer."

"Have you ever run into a War Shadow?"

"...I have."

Lili didn't hide anything in answering Rozz's question — she'd been hired by other Adventurers to come down here plenty of times before.

The girl understood something.

This guy wasn't just asking out of idle curiosity. She dug back through her memory for details. "War Shadows... they're pretty tricky to deal with."

"But once you kill one, the War Shadow's Finger Blade it drops sells for a good price!"

"I meant what it looks like..."

"It's basically a mass of black shadow, with long, slender arms ending in hooked claws, and something round on top of its head, I think."

"..."

He watched the humanoid shape ahead, slowly writhing on the ground as it coalesced — its appearance matched Lili's description exactly.

Pitch black, through and through.

[War Shadow]

If Rozz hadn't watched the thing being born with his own eyes, some old instinct might've stirred in him — he had to fight down the urge to grab a whip and start lashing it.

Especially those sharp hooked claws at the ends of its arms — just looking at them radiated menace.

Besides, if the Adventurer Guild had branded it a Newbie Killer, that meant the War Shadow definitely had confirmed kills to its name.

"Feels like this might be tough to beat?"

In a different kind of world—

Rozz could've easily become some legendary grinding master, farming the Upper Floors for good. Too bad the DanMachi world had no Excelia system — if he wanted to raise his stats,

he'd have to push into deeper floors!

He gripped his Adventurer's Shortsword backhand in his right hand, watching the War Shadow close the distance, but he didn't rush in to attack.

When it came to fighting, Rozz genuinely wasn't very skilled.

But say what you will, he was still a hardened old-school gamer — he had a nose for this kind of thing, especially when facing a monster everyone agreed was a Dungeon trash mob.

He had to stay alert.

The War Shadow clearly wasn't thinking that far ahead — it was a monster driven by pure killing instinct, and the moment it spotted Rozz standing there,

it surged forward, speed spiking instantly.

Riding its own momentum, the War Shadow whipped its wrist around, the sharp hooked claw at the end sweeping toward Rozz's chest.

"Clang!"

Metal met metal in a sharp, ringing clash.

Even though Rozz had blocked it in time, the sheer force of the impact traveled straight through the Adventurer's Shortsword and into the web of his right hand.

As for raw strength—

the War Shadow was genuinely stronger than he'd expected, nowhere near the same league as the monsters he'd faced on the floors above.

But,

Rozz had a reason he couldn't afford to lose, no matter what. Hestia's expectations of him mattered, sure. But there was a more important reason.

He was afraid of pain.

"..."

The instant he caught the War Shadow's strike and knocked it off balance, catching it in its recovery window, Rozz dropped low, and the power coiled in his legs exploded outward.

In that instant—

his body shot forward like a cannonball toward the stumbling War Shadow, and the moment he closed the gap, he swung his sword in a decisive sideways slash.

"Fwip!"

Compared to other monsters, cutting into the War Shadow gave almost no sense of resistance — after all, the thing was essentially just a mass of shadow.

By the time Rozz came back to himself,

the War Shadow once known as the "Newbie Killer" had already crumbled into black-gray dust, vanishing completely before his eyes.

Its War Shadow's Finger Blade and a Magic Stones dropped to the ground.

Honestly,

the grueling fight he'd braced for never materialized. The only real difference from the Goblins was that the War Shadow's weapon was better made.

"Hm?"

"Why does it feel... like it wasn't as strong as I expected?"

"..."

Watching that fight end in the blink of an eye, Lili, trailing along behind, really wanted to say something — but she couldn't even find the words.

Because this guy really was a rookie Adventurer.

And yet—

even a Newbie Killer War Shadow, one she herself couldn't have handled, looked as weak as a raw recruit in front of Rozz.

So was it that she just lacked the courage to fight monsters, or was there something wrong with this guy?!

Good news:

maybe this ridiculous adaptability of Rozz's meant there was actually a way to deal with Enwan Kovo and his gang.

—

The exploration went smoothly, without much trouble, but the trip back to Orario ended up being much faster than yesterday's.

When it came down to it—

the monsters had simply gotten stronger, so Rozz burned through more stamina fighting them, and had to keep enough in reserve for the trip back to Orario.

He looked out at Central Park ahead of him.

It was probably somewhere around two or three in the afternoon; the blazing sun beat down overhead, and even the air felt thick with heat.

Rozz glanced over at the girl beside him — his Supporter, who was clearly a little uneasy.

"Next I'm planning to head to the Adventurer Guild and convert today's Dungeon haul into valis."

"Want to come along?"

His reason for asking was simple.

At least with Lili sticking close, he wouldn't have to worry about her safety for the time being — and besides, today's Dungeon exploration wages still needed to be settled properly.

"Never mind..."

"Well, I still have to pay you something — I can't let you work for free!"

"..."

Hearing Rozz's explanation, the girl looked up, her eyes wide with surprise — she'd already braced herself to be worked for nothing.

After all, this whole mess was, at its core, her fault.

Lili was about to say something when she noticed a few painfully familiar faces moving around Central Park — Soma Familia Adventurers.

"Then..."

"Just bring it to me when we meet tomorrow!"

As she handed over all the drops, she didn't explain much, but she tucked away this... kindness somewhere deep inside.

The girl watched Rozz's back as he walked away.

Finally,

she turned her gaze back to those ill-intentioned "Familia seniors." For now, Rozz's battles in the Dungeon were over.

But next—

her own battle was just beginning!

"The strong preying on the weak — is that just how it's always been, and that's fine?"

"..."

Lili suddenly felt like... something about that wasn't right.

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