"Groooar!"
"Screech!"
Amidst a sea of mist.
Monsters known as "Imps," with slender bodies and oversized heads, appeared in swarms, surging from all directions toward the center.
At the center, a gleaming blade danced without pause, its movements as graceful as a sword dance, forming an impenetrable defense. Occasionally, a flash of the blade would slice off an Imp's head.
Even as a dozen or so Imps rushed in together, they gained no advantage, unable to breach the sword's barrier.
The figure at the center seemed to move effortlessly, constantly shifting his position to minimize the number of enemies he faced at any given moment. With each unexpected swing of his blade, the number of Imps steadily decreased.
This was a sword technique created by Eiji, specifically designed for defense. Its name was "Buddha's Light, Impenetrable."
His master, the God of War, Torajirou Nangou, had a famous technique called "Sword Music: Dance of the Sword." Using this technique, Nangou had dominated battlefields, emerging unscathed from the chaos of war, earning him the title of "Flawless."
Eiji had absorbed the essence of this technique and refined it, adapting it into a sword skill that suited him—Buddha's Light, Impenetrable.
This technique was particularly effective in group battles, where its true power could be unleashed. It created an inviolable barrier around the user, making it an impenetrable defense.
As time passed, Eiji whittled down the number of Imps until only three or four remained.
At this point, the Imps finally realized their fear, understanding that they were up against an unbreakable force. They quickly scattered in panic, disappearing into the thick mist.
Eiji did not pursue them. Instead, he stood still, breathing heavily as he recovered his stamina.
"Roooar!"
But before he could rest for long, a deep roar echoed through the air.
Soon after, a massive Orc emerged from the mist.
The Orc stood three meters tall, with a boar-like head and dark brown skin. A grass skirt hung around its waist, and its body, though covered in fat, seemed cumbersome. Yet, with each step, the ground trembled faintly.
"Is the tenth floor already this challenging?"
This was the tenth floor of the dungeon.
A thick, blinding mist filled the space, making it impossible to see more than a few meters ahead. The ground was covered in dry grass, crunching softly underfoot.
Surrounding him was a forest of completely withered trees, devoid of leaves, with only brittle trunks remaining.
The deeper one went into the dungeon, the more complex the terrain became. Features like grasslands and forests, which were almost nonexistent in the upper floors, began to appear. The space itself also grew increasingly vast.
While the fifth floor's maze was only as large as the central square, the tenth floor was at least a dozen times that size. Combined with the ever-present mist, navigating the paths became a challenge.
According to the rule that "the difficulty increases every five floors," the monsters on the tenth floor had also become significantly stronger.
Monsters like Orcs, which were never seen in the upper floors, made their first appearance here. Their three-meter-tall frames exuded immense pressure, making the difficulty clear.
"Haa... Hah!"
Eiji took a deep breath, using the ancient breathing technique taught by his master to squeeze out every last bit of his remaining stamina. Then, he charged at the Orc!
The Orc's massive body and immense strength were undoubtedly formidable, but its bulky frame, filled with fat, also made it slow and cumbersome.
The Orc swung its arm down, but only hit the dry grass. Eiji's figure curved around its side, moving to its back, and with a swift strike, he slashed at the tendons of its legs.
Swish~!
The blade flashed.
"Groaar?!"
The Orc let out a pained roar as the tendons in its heels were severed, forcing it to kneel forward uncontrollably.
"Ha!"
Eiji let out a sharp exhale, leaping from behind and driving his blade into the Orc's heart.
Shlick!
The blade pierced through the fat without resistance.
The Orc's eyes widened, but no sound escaped its lips. Its body quickly lost colour, dissolving into black smoke, leaving behind only a thumb-sized magic stone.
"Phew..."
Eiji couldn't help but collapse to the ground.
The prolonged battle with the Imps, followed by the intense burst of energy from the breathing technique, had drained his stamina. He needed to find a safe place to recover before continuing his exploration.
"Roooar!"
"Screeeech!"
However, as if he had stirred a hornet's nest, two more Orcs emerged from the mist. These Orcs even carried dried tree trunks, clearly using the surrounding forest as a natural armoury.
Not only that, but as the Orcs approached, a swarm of bat-like monsters also appeared in the air, emitting disorienting sound waves from their mouths.
"..."
Are you all just trying to make things difficult for me?
In the upper floors, monsters usually came one at a time, and their frequency was nowhere near this high.
But on the tenth floor, it seemed that large groups of monsters could appear at any moment. The swarm of Imps had been an accidental encounter while he was wandering around. And now, even Orcs could appear in pairs?
The difficulty of the tenth floor was clearly on a completely different level from the first nine!
Eiji reached for the pouch strapped to his thigh, pulling out a red potion. Without worrying about staining his clothes, he quickly poured it into his mouth.
Before entering the dungeon, Eiji had visited a general store, where he purchased a waist pouch, a thigh pouch, and several stamina potions.
Incidentally, a regular stamina potion only cost 500 Valis. That auctioneer from the other day must have made a killing.
As the potion took effect, his exhausted body quickly regained strength.
Eiji tightened his grip on his "Bling Blade," the short sword now sheathed at his waist. With a mind as calm as still water, he resisted the sound waves from the Bat monsters and focused entirely on the two Orcs.
"Bring it on! You think I'm afraid of you?"
A fierce glint appeared in his eyes.
With a step forward, he charged at the group of monsters without hesitation.
...
...
Unnoticed, the sky had filled with countless stars.
The number of adventurers coming and going from the Tower of Babel had dwindled, with most gathering in taverns and similar places. Under the golden full moon, magic stone lamps illuminated the main streets, turning the entire city of Orario into a sleepless metropolis.
On such a night, Eiji dragged his exhausted body out of the dungeon.
***
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