Chapter 17 - Ais, Bete, Tiona, and Tione. (Patreon)

The Orc couldn’t react in time. Kael swung his sword, slicing through its neck as if it were made of butter. His blade cut through it so effortlessly that Kael was surprised.

Even its bones couldn’t withstand his attacks.

After the second Orc died, the third became even more enraged and tried to smash Kael with both hands, just like the Hulk. However, Kael had already disappeared.

After remaining out of sight for a few seconds, he reappeared.

Whoosh!

The fog around him dispersed as Kael appeared again. The Orc was startled by his sudden presence and couldn’t react in time, just like the second Orc. Within seconds, both of its legs were severed, and it fell to the ground.

Unable to walk, the Orc began crawling toward Kael, who found the sight rather amusing. The monster was drooling with rage, baring its teeth at Kael and pounding its hands against the ground.

Kael glanced toward Bella and saw that she had already finished her work. He teleported onto the back of the Orc lying on the ground. Then, he drove his sword into the back of its neck.

Kael could feel his sword breaking the bones in its neck.

The Orc thrashed around for a few seconds before dying.

[EXP +1000]

Bella approached him.

“You took longer than I expected. You’re playing around too much. Just be direct and kill them quickly. You’re wasting time doing this.”

Kael listened to her while collecting the three magic stones.

With all three magic stones in hand, he approached Bella. After handing them over, he said, “Sorry, but I can’t help myself. I think it’s fun to play around with them.”

“When you encounter stronger monsters, please don’t do that. You might be able to escape if things go wrong, but it’s still quite dangerous.”

“All right.”

Bella sighed and continued walking.

As Kael followed her, he opened his status window.

Name: Kael

Title: Teleporter

Familia: Hestia

Level: 2 (28,250/500,000)

Strength (STR): I 10 (38)

Endurance (END): I 10 (31)

Dexterity (DEX): I 10 (34)

Agility (AGI): I 10 (42)

Magic (MAG): I 10 (30)

Abilities: Teleportation (EX) LV3 / Swordsmanship LV3

Kael had killed many monsters on his way to this floor, and each monster on this floor granted him a thousand EXP. His accumulated EXP was looking good, and his stats had also increased considerably.

'I’ll have to ask the Goddess to update my Falna again as soon as I leave the Dungeon.'

Kael closed his status window, and suddenly, Bella stopped moving.

“Did something happen?”

“...”

The fog wasn’t as dense as it had been a few minutes earlier. Kael looked in the direction Bella was staring and spotted a monster walking through the mist. It was heading toward them.

However, it wasn’t running. It was walking calmly.

Kael remembered reading about this.

The most dangerous monster an adventurer could encounter on this floor.

An Infant Dragon.

But just like Kael, Bella didn’t seem particularly worried.

After all, she was a Level Three adventurer.

Still watching the Infant Dragon, Bella asked, “Do you want to try killing it?”

“Can I?”

“Yes, of course. But be careful.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”

Kael gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and a second later, he disappeared.

He appeared directly above the Infant Dragon, which hadn’t noticed his presence.

However, someone else had.

“Huh? Who?”

The person in question was in midair, just like Kael, preparing to attack the Infant Dragon.

As soon as Kael noticed the woman’s presence, he disappeared.

“Huh?”

The woman was startled and abandoned her attack on the Infant Dragon, dropping toward the ground instead.

####

Some time earlier, a beautiful blonde woman had been walking through the 12th Floor after spending some time in Rivira. She was leading her group.

Three members followed behind her: two sisters and a tall man with animal ears on his head and a tail.

It was Ais Wallenstein and her group.

“Hey, Ais, you’re going too fast. There’s no need to rush,” Tiona said.

“...”

Ais stopped walking and turned around. As soon as her eyes met Tiona’s, she said, “We’ve already spent too much time in here.”

That was all she said before turning around and continuing forward.

Bete, who was walking right behind them, gave Tiona a light slap on the head before following Ais.

Tiona sighed and puffed out her cheeks. Tione, standing right beside her, said, “Come on. Let’s go.”

They resumed walking, chatting about various things along the way. Despite being experienced adventurers, they weren’t paying much attention to their surroundings.

They were all far too strong to worry about such things.

The only one who remained alert was Ais. She never let her guard down.

After walking for a few minutes, Ais suddenly stopped and gripped the hilt of her sword.

She said nothing to the other members of her group and advanced into the fog.

“There she goes again,” Tiona said with a smile.

Ais passed through the fog, scattering it as she moved. Then, within seconds, she reached the Infant Dragon.

The monster had also noticed her presence. As if she were dancing, Ais deceived the Infant Dragon’s eyes before leaping into the air.

She was aiming for its neck.

However, while airborne, Ais was startled by the sudden appearance of another person.

'What? What is this?'

She hadn’t noticed that man’s presence at all. He hadn’t been anywhere nearby. He had appeared out of nowhere.

The man’s eyes met hers in midair.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

The man’s expression changed from a smile to a serious look, and then he disappeared.

For the first time in a long while, Ais lost her concentration and failed to carry out her attack.

She landed on her feet, only to be attacked by the Infant Dragon, which tried to bite her. Still thinking about the man, she dodged the attack and retreated.

The man’s presence had vanished completely.

Bete, Tiona, and Tione, who had been watching from several meters away, hadn’t seen the man because of the fog and how quickly everything had happened.

They were surprised by Ais’s sudden lapse in concentration.