Chapter 84: Your proud talent is just the threshold to meet Rozz! (Patreon)

"Since everyone's ready, let's begin today's exploration."

"Boarding Rowhouse"

A tall, powerfully built male Adventurer with short black hair gripped a huge axe and surveyed the members gathered before him.

The Familia didn't have many members, really.

Wherever you looked, every face was Far Eastern. That strikingly black hair alone was proof they all came from the same place.

Ouka Kashima. Vice-captain of the Takemikazuchi Familia and a Lv2 Adventurer.

Organizing the daily expeditions and keeping the members safe was his responsibility.

For Kashima, every trip into the Dungeon was a fresh challenge, because the others were all companions he'd grown up with in the orphanage. As the oldest, and as someone whose strength was fairly well-rounded among the Familia, he carried Lord Takemikazuchi's high hopes. He couldn't let those hopes down.

And the crux of it…

It wasn't that Kashima, as vice-captain, didn't want to recruit new members. Once new Adventurers got through the rough starting stage, exploration would certainly become much easier.

But the Familia's current situation made recruiting impossible. After paying Orario's daily expenses, every last coin went back to the Far East.

Adventurers, after all~ What they pursue is naturally greater strength and a famous name, but the one thing they can never escape is money.

That was why the Takemikazuchi Familia couldn't grow. They had responsibilities they were duty-bound to carry.

All they could do was grit their teeth and endure.

Kashima looked over the eager members and nodded in satisfaction. "Today's target is Floor 15. If we run into danger—"

"We withdraw right away!"

"…"

As the Familia's party headed for Central Park, where Babel stood, Kashima quickly noticed Mikoto Yamato, another pillar of the Familia, lost in thought and clearly distracted.

Compared with usual, her state was seriously off. Worse, with the expedition about to begin, it could very well affect her fighting condition.

As vice-captain, Kashima was obliged to look after every member, and Mikoto, also a Lv2 Adventurer, was key to the party's safety.

Despite his rugged build and looks, he had a delicate mind that didn't match his appearance. He thought back over the past two days, and if anything stood out…

It was probably the day Rozz of the Hestia Familia came to invite Lord Takemikazuchi to the celebration banquet. Mikoto had been a little off ever since.

During that time, she'd apparently gone to see Takemikazuchi alone.

Then, from the evening before last, she'd started training day and night without rest, as if desperate to get stronger?

Curiosity got the better of him. "Yamato, has something been bothering you lately?"

"Nothing…"

Even if something were wrong, Mikoto Yamato was too embarrassed to tell her vice-captain. She could hardly confess that a rookie had knocked her confidence flat!

Honestly…

Even now she found the whole thing absurd, especially after talking Rozz over with Lord Takemikazuchi. The blow had never hit this hard before.

Here were the god's exact words:

"When I first met Rozz, his god had asked me to give him special training. That was half a month ago."

"There was a practical combat session during it."

"And already during that session, Rozz's strength surpassed the vast majority of Lv1 Adventurers."

That was exactly what had crushed Mikoto. It meant Rozz wasn't just fast at growing.

Even among Lv1 Adventurers, his strength was at the very top!

"Can an Adventurer really reach this level?"

Look at herself, by contrast. She'd received her Falna from a god back in the orphanage. Setting aside that the Far East had no Dungeon-level environment to explore…

When she faced Miss Ais, the Sword Princess of the Loki Familia, she could at least still dream of catching up. Eight years in total, and reaching Lv5 wasn't out of reach.

But what if she set Rozz as her target?

All the girl felt was how uneven Adventurers' talents were, and how easily that ground your confidence away.

Under vice-captain Ouka Kashima's concerned gaze, Mikoto weighed her words. She was never good at lying, so she chose to tell him everything. "Kashima, have you ever seen a monster?"

"Aren't there plenty in the Dungeon?"

"I don't mean that kind… Rozz, who came to our Familia Home the day before yesterday. That evening, I talked with Lord Takemikazuchi about him."

"Hm?"

Seeing the confusion in her vice-captain's eyes, even this girl, who'd always held such fierce devotion to the martial way, wore a bitter smile on her delicate face.

Mikoto murmured, "That guy is a monster, through and through."

"If I ever got the chance to spar with him, I think… I honestly might not be a match for this rookie Adventurer…"

"A man who can Level Up in half a month. I still can't wrap my head around it."

"And the most important part: before leveling up, Rozz was already a standout among Lv1s. Just how outrageous is his talent?"

"…"

Through those words, Kashima could feel the girl's deep frustration, as if all her years of effort had been flatly denied.

But he only grinned, openly and easily. "Honestly, I don't think there's any need to compare yourself with a freak of talent like that. Doing your own job well is more than enough."

"Besides…"

"I think the ones who should worry most are the Adventurers they call 'geniuses', because if you really compare…"

At that, the tall young Adventurer scratched his head. He mulled it over for a good while, then added with a grin, "Maybe that talent they're so proud of…"

"…is just the bar you have to clear to meet Rozz?"

"…"

Somehow, it made a lot of sense!

The black-haired girl wasn't pessimistic by nature. Now that she'd faced reality squarely, her mood was mostly one of relief.

She wasn't someone you could call a "genius." And if facing Rozz gave even her a life-doubting sense of defeat, how would the other Adventurers of Orario feel?

Surely worse than she did.

Once she understood that, Mikoto lifted her head and quickly pulled herself together. "Thank you. Let's head out for the Dungeon."

If she ever got the chance…

She really wanted to spar with Rozz. She wanted to find the answer through actual combat and see whether this "monster" lived up to the name!

After all…

This guy had Lord Takemikazuchi himself singing his praises!

*

Compared with the upper floors, the middle floors hadn't changed all that much. The passages were the same primitive caves, only broader and colder.

The Glowing Fruit on the rock walls had vanished completely. In its place was some kind of moss giving off a faint blue glimmer, clinging tightly in the cracks of the stone and providing weak illumination.

The air was noticeably more humid, and the passages were several times wider. In the upper floors, most passages could only fit three or four people abreast, but here even six or seven could spread out in full formation and still leave plenty of room on both sides.

Rozz already knew what that width meant: the monsters ahead would be much bigger, and they needed wider passages to move around in!

This was "the First Dead Line"!!

The middle floors.

Honestly, even Rozz had never imagined that he, barely half a month after transmigrating to Orario, would make it here so smoothly.

He glanced at the Supporter girl beside him, her face set in grim seriousness.

"Not gonna lie," he said lightly, trying to ease Lili's nerves, "stepping into a brand-new region puts me in a pretty sentimental mood."

And now, Floor 13.

Rozz gazed out over the new region. He couldn't help being a little moved, but mostly he was filled with anticipation for his own future.

He didn't let his guard down, though.

Lili had prepared through the night after hearing he wanted to explore the middle floors. She looked up, her tone very grave.

"Exploring the middle floors is far more dangerous."

"Especially… the Hellhounds, the ones called 'Arsonists'. Plenty of Lv2 Adventurer parties have been wiped out right here."

"I think you'd better be extra careful."

After the warning, the Supporter girl cut her eyes toward Rozz and hummed softly. "I don't want to die here."

"Of course not."

This was Rozz's first expedition since leveling up to Lv2. While he'd been adapting to his stats with Ryuu, he hadn't been able to go all out.

Right now he was genuinely curious: with Mana Burst and the Chidori series of ninjutsu, just how strong was he?

"Relax. I'll keep you safe no matter what!"

"…"

It's precisely your fighting style that makes it so hard to relax.

Even so, the Supporter girl stayed at Rozz's side, a rough map from the Adventurer Guild in her hands, as they explored the area.

Only their footsteps echoed through the wide passage. The silence was so deep they could hear each other breathing.

After about two hundred steps…

From far ahead came faint, scattered footsteps, hard to pin down, growing clearer as the distance closed.

Definitely not Adventurers.

Monsters!

Claws scraped rapidly and densely over the rock floor, accompanied by a low, rasping pant. Even the temperature of the air was climbing.

Lili looked up sharply. "Monsters…"

"…"

Rozz had that combat sense too. Katana in hand, he stared into the dim passage ahead.

As the monsters closed in, several massive Hellhounds poured out of a fork in the passage ahead. They fanned out to block the party's path.

The Hellhounds were nearly the size of calves, with short, powerful limbs. Their charred black skin was covered in cracked patterns.

Just by getting close, a wave of heat rolled off the Hellhounds, driving back the damp chill of the cave!

Rozz frowned slightly and quickly assessed the situation, especially the Hellhounds' gaping, vicious jaws.

As if flames were stirring inside…

Monsters skilled at group combat and ranged attacks. In a narrow Dungeon passage, if you couldn't fully seize the initiative against them,

just thinking about it was a nightmare.

"Arsonist"

"Interesting."

He loosened up, joints popping as he stretched them out. He didn't go with his previous fighting style.

"Mana Burst"

He'd long since mastered this Skill.

Without hesitation, Rozz held his katana flat before him, gathered his mental power in his left hand, and quickly adjusted the form of the energy's release.

"Bzzt~"

Violent arcs of pure white light began driving the darkness out of the cave passage.

He slid his palm along the flat of the blade.

The instant he did, that lethal lightning clung fully to the weapon's surface, enchanting its edge with even greater sharpness.

"Chidori Blade"

All he had to do was convert his mental power into Chidori's lightning attribute. Deriving other moves from it would be a breeze.

Rozz gathered power in his legs.

The speed that burst out of him sent his lunging figure forward trailing lightning, and in a mere moment…

he was on top of the Hellhounds.

"First, let me see what middle-floor monsters are made of!"

Rozz didn't hesitate.

He raised his katana and unleashed an iai slash at the Hellhounds before him. The flash of the blade passed in an instant, sweeping violent lightning along with it.

It banished the dimness of the cave passage entirely.

Not only that, the unstoppable slash pushed Chidori's piercing power to its limit and cut the monsters in front of him clean in half.

"Hiss~"

The raging lightning sizzled as it met the Hellhounds' scorching skin. The mortally wounded monsters

crumbled into gray dust and vanished.

Even so, when Rozz breathed in, he could clearly make out the acrid smell of burning still hanging in the air!

"Why does it feel…"

He frowned slightly and muttered, "Middle-floor monsters aren't as strong as I imagined?"

Good news:

The monsters' difficulty hadn't risen. That meant he had a great chance to develop new forms of Chidori from here on.

"…"

Having watched that fight, Lili thought, honestly,

that even if Goliath, the floor boss of Floor 17, showed up in front of this guy, she wouldn't be surprised at all if he killed it on a whim.

After thinking for a long while, she finally couldn't hold back the retort. She twitched the corner of her mouth. "Is it possible you're just too strong?"

"Good point."

*

In the exploration that followed, Rozz didn't deliberately push for maximum efficiency. He focused more on developing his Chidori Skill, hoping to use it to build his strength.

The pity was that monsters on the middle floors weren't as dense as on the earlier ones. Sometimes he had to search a long time to find any.

Damn.

Why can't the Dungeon spawn monsters nonstop, like those wooden posts?

Then again,

he soon remembered a term Lili had mentioned once.

Looking at the Supporter girl beside him, Rozz asked, "Lili, do you know any way to trigger a… Monster Party?"

But…

He hadn't even gotten her answer yet.

Relying on the danger instinct he'd honed in the "Pure White Dream Space," he snapped his head up and looked at the passage ahead.

The next moment,

Rozz saw a party fleeing in rough shape. The Far Eastern-style gear on these Adventurers looked oddly familiar.

They seemed to be members of the Takemikazuchi Familia, and they were sprinting straight toward him.

"Hm…"

"Surely it can't really be them?"

He frowned. One thing was certain: the sense of danger wasn't coming from the Adventurers in front of him. As the distance kept closing…

at last, Rozz found the source of that "danger." It came from the countless monsters chasing those unfamiliar Adventurers.

"Holy crap."

"Since when does exploring the Dungeon come with free EXP gift bundles to pick up?!"

[Author's Note: PS: That's the first update! I'm asking for monthly tickets at the end of the month~ and the unlimited bounty event is ending soon, meow!]