Strolling through the Dungeon, Shirou's mood was entirely different from that of other adventurers.
The journey ahead would be extremely difficult for him, yet he remained utterly calm.
No tension, no fear.
Only the need to move forward.
Looking at Shirou, clad in Flame-Resistant Cloth, though unfamiliar with him, the surrounding adventurers couldn't help but cast envious glances his way.
Flame-Resistant Cloth, in a sense, was standard mid-level gear.
This was largely due to the appearance of a specific monster: Hellhounds.
Hellhounds, also known as Fire-Breathing Demons, were monsters that used ranged magic attacks. The flames they spat could easily incinerate unprotected adventurers.
And Flame-Resistant Cloth, with its fire and heat resistance, was the best protective gear to shield adventurers from fire threats.
Thus, seeing an adventurer wearing Flame-Resistant Cloth easily led to one conclusion:
Wearing Flame-Resistant Cloth = Mid-level Explorer = High-tier Adventurer.
Ignoring the envious gazes of other adventurers, Shirou continued to delve deeper into the Dungeon.
Monsters born on the upper floors could no longer cause him any trouble, so his destination was the middle floors. More precisely, the Seventeenth Floor, where the Floor Boss resided.
Of course, he absolutely couldn't defeat the Floor Boss; the gap between them was simply too vast.
The Floor Boss of the Seventeenth Floor was Goliath, a monster rated at LV.4 combat power. For him, a LV.1 adventurer, defeating Goliath was tantamount to a fool's dream.
Therefore, he decided to emulate the path of the mighty Ottar's LV.7 journey: a solo expedition.
Of course, Ottar's solo expedition was to the 59th floor, where he fought the LV.7 Floor Boss, beat it half to death, and then returned alone — a truly mighty feat.
As for Shirou, he just needed to step onto the 17th floor and then fight his way back.
Shirou felt too embarrassed to call such a distance an "expedition," so he named his current endeavor: A Small Expedition.
Standing at the passage leading from the Twelfth Floor to the Thirteenth Floor, Shirou tightened the backpack on his back.
This time, his backpack was packed full of supplies, leaving no space for magic stones. This operation was solely for combat.
Tightening the headband on his head, Shirou murmured, "Now, my adventure begins."
With that, he stepped into the dim passage ahead.
Gray rocks lay scattered everywhere. The surrounding walls, floor, and ceiling were made of bedrock, and the air was slightly damp.
At a glance, the environment here resembled a natural cave on a mountainside.
This combat environment made Shirou feel as if he had returned to Mount Enzou, the place where he once fought.
However, Shirou had no time to ponder such things now. At this moment, he was constantly running and fighting.
With a swift sword strike, he cleaved the Uni-rabbit in front of him in two, then turned to deflect a stone axe thrown from afar to the side.
These were monsters unique to the middle floors, called Uni-rabbits.
Although not particularly strong among LV.2 monsters, they couldn't be underestimated. With their ability to throw stone axes, they could inflict fatal damage if one wasn't careful.
Moreover, this labyrinth was their natural armory; fallen rocks on the ground would transform into sharp stone axes in their hands, constantly raining down.
Even more difficult to contend with was their sheer number; there were simply too many.
From the middle floors onwards, the monster refresh rate and quantity far surpassed those of the upper floors.
Monsters would continuously appear, constantly draining one's stamina, then waiting for the opportune moment to deliver a fatal blow.
This was the living Dungeon.
Therefore, Shirou absolutely could not give them a chance to surround him. He had to keep running, constantly moving deeper.
In this expedition, he would unleash his true capabilities.
Shirou, who had already thoroughly scouted the middle-floor routes, didn't pause for a second, continuously running and fighting.
All monsters obstructing his path fell before him.
"Howl—!"
Although he had been running constantly, Shirou never relaxed his vigilance over his surroundings.
Even before the sound arrived, Shirou had already noticed its figures: three wolf-like monsters the size of calves.
Those were Hellhounds.
The Hellhounds lurking on the side didn't charge forward. Instead, they stood in place, raising their lower bodies and lowering their upper bodies, accumulating flames in their mouths.
Bursts of fire sparks, about to erupt, overflowed from the gaps in their fangs.
"Too slow!"
At this moment, Shirou's twin swords had transformed into a black longbow. Three arrows were already nocked on the bowstring, ready to be unleashed.
Twang!
The sound of the bowstring, accompanied by the whistle of rushing air, echoed in the silent space. The flames in the Hellhounds' mouths were struck squarely in their heads by Shirou before they could even be spat out.
The flames, unable to be released, could only explode in place, incinerating the Hellhounds themselves into nothingness.
But Shirou had no time to bother with these.
After firing the arrows, he swung the longbow, striking away the nearby Uni-rabbit.
There were simply too many monsters in the middle floors.
Slingshotting the longbow onto his back, and projecting twin swords again, Shirou continued forward.
He didn't dispel the longbow simply to conserve magical energy, as bows and arrows would undoubtedly become a frequently used weapon in the upcoming battles.
Affected by the Divine Blessing, Shirou's Projection Magic had received an epic enhancement. Previously, projecting sword-type weapons consumed normal magical energy, non-sword weapons consumed double, and defensive gear consumed double again.
But now, projecting any weapon consumed normal magical energy, sword-type weapons consumed half, and defensive gear consumed double.
This made his endurance even more robust.
"Don't obstruct my path!"
Looking at the endless stream of monsters rushing towards him in the passage ahead, Shirou's magical energy rapidly circulated throughout his body.
"Projection, begin!"
With his command, a dozen sword-armaments were projected and then fired wildly.
Empowered by magical energy and the inherent sharpness of the weapons, each sword-armament pierced through the bodies of several monsters, instantly clearing the passage ahead.
The use of projected weapons seemed to foreshadow the escalating intensity of the battle.
Along the subsequent path, Shirou continuously ran, and continuously wielded his twin swords.
Facing the monsters that came in waves, he relentlessly cut them down.
Sometimes with swords, sometimes with arrows, or even by projecting and firing swords — in short, all sorts of methods were frequently employed.
But even so, he still sustained various injuries.
The monster attacks were too dense; there were always some attacks Shirou couldn't block.
Uni-rabbits' thrown stone axes, Hellhounds' flame breath, Hard-Armored Rats' spinning charges.
There were always attacks he couldn't parry.
But this still couldn't impede his advance.
Soon, Shirou followed the remembered landmarks to the passage leading from the Thirteenth to the Fourteenth Floor. However, a large horde of monsters had already gathered there, waiting for him.
"Is this the gift the Dungeon prepared for me? This is truly generous!"
Taking the longbow from his back, his right hand began to project.
"Projection, begin!"
A peculiar longsword appeared in Shirou's right hand. This sword was not double-edged or single-edged, but a helical-structured blade, seemingly designed solely for thrusting.
"False — Caladbolg!"
Nocking the projected sword-armament onto the bowstring, with the flow of magical energy, the sword-like armament began to transform, turning into a silver-glowing arrow.
This time, Shirou, for the first time in a while, stopped his advance and drew the bowstring fully.
"Broken Phantasm!"
With a flash of red light, the fired arrow crossed a vast distance and instantly arrived amidst the monster horde.
Boom!!!
A violent explosion erupted from the monster horde, instantly engulfing the entire group.
The immense blast generated a whirlwind that continuously swept through the surroundings. Many monsters outside the explosion's range were blown away by the powerful storm, falling into the passage below.
When the smoke cleared, raging flames continued to burn in place. The chamber, once crowded with monsters, was now strewn with magic stones.
Shirou calmly walked through, not sparing a single glance for the magic stones.
And so, he entered the passage leading to the Fourteenth Floor.
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter