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"Whoosh--!"
Almiraj might've looked harmless at first glance, but their crimson eyes radiated a chilling bloodlust. In the next instant, two of them moved like trained soldiers, raising their stone axes in perfect sync before swinging down with lethal force.
"I'm leaving the rear to you!" Ryoji didn't have time to deal with the Hellhound behind him. Without hesitation, he surged forward, lowering his stance as he charged straight at the Almiraj.
"Clang!"
His gleaming blade met the first stone axe with a sharp clash. Sparks flew as the impact caused the axe to ricochet, spinning midair and slamming directly into the second Almiraj.
"Clang!"
The two axes collided, knocking each other out of their owners' grasp and sending them skidding across the rocky floor.
But the third Almiraj wasn't deterred. Brandishing its stone axe, it launched itself at Ryoji, moving with a speed that rivaled a Silverback's. In just two seconds, it had already closed the gap.
"Thud!"
Just as their bodies were about to collide, Ryoji swiftly reached behind with his left hand and thrust a short sword forward. His weapon struck first, piercing the Almiraj through the chest before it could bring down its axe.
"Boom!"
Ryoji didn't stop. He lifted the dying Almiraj with brute strength and hurled its body at the other two, who were still recovering from losing their weapons. The impact bowled them over, and before they could get back up, Ryoji finished them off with clean, decisive strikes.
With the trio defeated, Ryoji turned to check on the situation behind him.
But it looked like his support wasn't needed after all.
Two blazing arrows shot out from behind him like cannon blasts, striking the Hellhound squarely and incinerating it on the spot. Its charred remains collapsed without a sound, the magical flames having easily overpowered the creature's own fireball attack.
Seeing the threat eliminated, Lefiya finally lowered her staff, exhaling with relief as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Being caught in a pincer attack on the 13th Floor was one of the worst-case scenarios a party could face.
If Ryoji had been alone, getting out of that encirclement would've been a brutal challenge. But with the three of them working together, it felt like the 13th Floor posed no threat at all.
"With this team... just how deep can we go?"
The thought lingered in Ryoji's mind.
In the Dungeon, the deeper you ventured, the more intense the trials, and the faster you could grow stronger by pushing your limits. The 13th Floor was a maze of winding rock passages, and spaced throughout them were key nodes: the rock chambers.
"Here we are."
In one such chamber, the trio had found a brief moment of peace, sitting on the cold stone floor. Line pulled three lunchboxes from her backpack and passed them out to Ryoji and Lefiya.
"Thanks, Line! Wait, did you make these yourself?"
"Yeah. I wasn't sure what you liked, so I just put together something simple."
"Well, I appreciate it!"
"Mmm... not bad at all," Ryoji added mid-bite.
Line's cheeks flushed lightly at the compliment.
In Ryoji's book, anything that wasn't a sludgy mess was already "delicious", so he meant his words.
"But… did you really have to break part of the wall before we could eat?" Ryoji glanced toward one corner of the chamber as he spoke, still chewing.
The rock chamber was fairly spacious, at least seven or eight meters across with ceilings nearly three meters high. Compared to the narrow corridors outside, it felt practically luxurious. Two dark tunnel openings marked the entrance and exit.
Dim phosphorescent light shimmered from the stone walls and ceiling, offering just enough illumination to see without casting full shadows. It wasn't bright by any means, but at least better than total darkness.
There were dozens of these chambers scattered across the 13th Floor. With their open space and strategic layout, they made for ideal rest stops between skirmishes.
In the corner of the rock chamber, a pit about half the height of a person had been chiseled into the wall. A small mountain of rubble lay piled at its base.
"You didn't know?"
"Know what?"
"The Dungeon repairs itself."
Line looked at Ryoji with a hint of surprise, until she remembered that he'd only recently arrived in Orario. She softened and began explaining patiently.
"The Dungeon is alive. Think of the whole thing as a living creature. Its floors and passageways are like its organs, and organs don't change shape. Even if adventurers damage the walls, the Dungeon will automatically heal itself."
Ryoji hadn't read anything about this in the guidebooks. Curious, he leaned forward, listening closely.
The Dungeon created monsters, like the Silverbacks and Hellhounds they'd encountered, by spawning them from its walls and ceilings. In a way, the entire structure was one vast, organic monster nest, and the Dungeon itself acted like a mother to those creatures.
Back when they first entered this rock chamber, they had witnessed monsters emerging from the walls multiple times.
Now, the three of them sat in the center of the chamber, careful not to lean against the walls, after all, another monster could leap out at any moment.
But as Line explained, the Dungeon prioritized self-repair over monster generation.
That meant when a section was damaged, it would temporarily reduce monster spawns in the surrounding area in order to focus on healing itself.
"Ah, so that's it!"
The realization clicked in Ryoji's mind.
"So when the Dungeon gets hurt, it focuses on fixing itself first, and monsters won't spawn near this chamber for a while!"
Adventurers could use this window of safety to eat, rest, or tend to injuries. It was a crucial opportunity to recover.
"Exactly." Line gave a gentle smile and nodded.
Ryoji nodded several times in return, deeply impressed. Having a seasoned veteran on the team really made a difference.
In contrast...
He glanced to his right.
The blonde-haired elf girl, Lefiya, was happily munching on her lunch, completely absorbed in her bento. When she noticed Ryoji looking at her, she tilted her head in confusion. A few grains of rice clung to the corner of her mouth.
'You're the Level 3 here, you know…' Ryoji thought to himself, sweatdropping internally.
"By the way," He said aloud, changing the subject, "You came down to the Dungeon to practice something called 'concurrent chanting,' right?"
He finally remembered their original goal and turned to Lefiya. "What kind of technique is that?"
Since Riveria had specifically requested this training, Ryoji figured he should at least support Lefiya properly. It was also his way of repaying her for teaming up with him.
"...Oh right! I came here for that!" Lefiya blinked, then quickly put down her lunchbox. She fell silent, staring into space for a moment before her eyes lit up with realization.
Ryoji: "..."
"Concurrent chanting," Line chimed in with a soft laugh, stepping in to help, "is a technique where a Mage continues chanting while performing other actions."
As she spoke, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a small handkerchief, and wiped the stray rice grains from the corner of Lefiya's mouth. Lefiya immediately flushed red, caught off guard.
Normally, casting Magic required intense concentration. A Mage needed to focus completely to guide the magic power flowing through their body and weave it into a spell via chanting.
Any disruption, mental or physical, could cause the spell to fail or, worse, trigger a mana backlash. That's why Mages usually stayed still while casting.
But concurrent chanting changed the rules.
(End of Chapter)