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"Not bad results."
In the courtyard of Twilight Manor, Riveria was reviewing Lefiya's progress after a full day of training. She gripped her Magic Staff with precision, her movements swift and focused. As Lefiya began chanting mid-practice, Riveria's eyes sharpened, and suddenly, she struck.
Lefiya didn't break her chant. Instead, her body reacted instinctively, dodging the incoming strike by sheer reflex.
Riveria offered genuine praise, but Lefiya was momentarily thrown off. Her chanting faltered. The magic power that had been building within her flared out of control. Her face went pale as her knees buckled, and she dropped to the ground, convulsing slightly from the backlash.
After a few tense moments, she managed to recover, color slowly returning to her cheeks.
This kind of magical backlash, minor magic power surges, was a known risk during concurrent chanting training. As long as she could stabilize the flow in time, it wouldn't result in a full-on detonation. Lefiya had already become accustomed to this kind of pain.
"What kind of training did you go through today?" Riveria asked with a hint of curiosity.
"...I got chased by monsters?"
Riveria fell silent, deep in thought.
Lefiya herself looked equally baffled. 'Was it because I spent half the afternoon running for my life? My body must've started reacting on its own…'
"Perhaps I've been too lenient with you." Riveria sighed, her tone uncharacteristically soft and laced with guilt.
She had been instructing Lefiya for quite some time, and despite that, Lefiya had never managed to grasp concurrent chanting. But after just a single day with Ryoji in the Dungeon, she was already showing signs of early success.
She was still far from being proficient in it, but if she continued on this path, full mastery wouldn't be far off. A faint sense of frustration crept into Riveria's expression, a touch of melancholy clouding her usual composure.
Lefiya shuddered.
'Lenient? You call that lenient?!'
Daily drills, surprise evaluations, and painful smacks on her palms and backside whenever she fell short were that supposed to be "spoiling"? Please, Riveria, don't let yourself be swayed by that man's Spartan methods!
'That man is not normal!' Lefiya screamed inwardly.
"Um… can I not go tomorrow?" She raised her head hesitantly, hoping for the tiniest glimmer of mercy on Riveria's face.
"No." Riveria gave her a serene smile, but her tone was firm and absolute. "Your training with Ryoji is clearly yielding results. If you stick with it, you'll become an excellent Mage."
"But his training is dangerous!"
"You were chased around all day, and you're still fine, aren't you? I trust he wouldn't harm one of his own." Riveria replied, her voice full of confidence.
'No, wait… Riveria, why do you have such unfounded faith in that man?!' Lefiya's shoulders slumped, her face crumpling as if she were about to cry.
…
The next day.
Lefiya reluctantly regrouped with Ryoji and Line. The trio once again ventured into the Dungeon together.
That day, during their combined training and exploration, they made it through the 13th Floor unharmed and pressed on into the 14th.
In the days that followed, they cleared the 15th Floor.
And not long after,
The 16th.
Two weeks passed.
17th Floor.
This floor gave off a crushing sense of claustrophobia. The uneven stone walls absorbed light, making the passageways feel tight and oppressive. Sharp stalactites hung from the ceiling like inverted blades, their jagged tips glinting faintly.
Glowing stones the size of fists dotted the walls, casting a dim, ghostly phosphorescence that barely lit the path ahead.
"----Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree. You are an expert of the bow! Shoot, sniper of the fairies!"
In the shadowy, cavern-like chamber, Lefiya danced across the stone floor, dodging left and right as a saber-toothed tiger-type monster lunged at her. Her chant didn't falter, not even once.
From the fluidity of her movements and the composure on her face, it was obvious, Lefiya had fully grasped the technique of casting while evading.
"Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy!"
A brilliant arrow of flame burst from the tip of her Magic Staff, launching forward with the explosive force of a cannon. She hadn't even taken proper aim, her staff moved with a casual flick, the fiery projectile veering toward a wall rather than any specific enemy.
But mid-air, the arrow twisted, turning in a sharp 180-degree arc. Like a predator locking onto its prey, it redirected and shot toward a nearby saber-toothed tiger. A split-second later, the spell exploded on impact, reducing most of the beast's body to shards of scorched flesh.
This was Arc's Ray, one of Lefiya's three mastered spells. Just as its incantation implied, once it locked onto a target, it never missed. A guaranteed-hit Magic, and one highly practical for Dungeon combat.
"Roooaaar!!"
A thunderous roar echoed from the other side of the cavern. Among all monsters classified as Level 2 threats, this one was easily among the most dangerous.
Standing over two meters tall, it was covered in copper-toned fur resistant to both flame and frost. Its muscular body looked like it had been carved from ancient tree trunks, and two pitch-black horns jutted forward like obsidian spears.
The pressure it gave off was suffocating, radiating raw savagery.
A Minotaur.
It was considered the deadliest monster between the 1st and 18th Floors, second only to a Dungeon Floor Boss. Even a veteran Level 2 Adventurer could be crushed in a direct confrontation.
"Boom!"
The Minotaur stomped down, shattering the ground beneath its hooves, and with a fierce bellow, swung its massive arms toward Ryoji.
"Whoosh!"
But Ryoji simply dipped low, and the Minotaur's enormous fists cut through empty air.
"Roar!"
Unwilling to relent, the Minotaur's eyes bulged as it launched into a flurry of wild attacks. Its arms spun like great iron wheels, sweeping across the cavern with terrifying force.
Yet within that storm of violence, Ryoji remained composed. Calmly stepping and weaving between the blows, he danced within the beast's range, each movement perfectly timed, each dodge executed with razor-sharp precision.
"Slash!"
As the Minotaur's rampage stalled for just a heartbeat, Ryoji struck. His katana traced upward along the creature's right arm, following the muscle line with surgical precision. A deep gash, nearly a meter long, split the beast's flesh, like slicing through layered fish meat.
The size disparity between them was absurd.
One misstep, and the Minotaur could flatten him like a bug.
Yet at that moment, the encounter looked less like a battle and more like a one-sided game. The towering monster resembled a clumsy brute, and Ryoji, an agile ghost, was impossible to hit.
Compared to his duel with Kumariki just half a month ago, Ryoji's movements now had a different quality, fluid, graceful, honed. He had clearly improved.
Even against a solid mid-tier Level 2 monster, there was no struggle in his steps. If anything, he seemed to be playing with it.
"Slash!"
"Slash!"
Blade flashes lit the darkness. With pinpoint strikes, Ryoji severed the tendons in both of the Minotaur's arms, rendering it helpless.
Then came the final blow, a merciless slash across its throat.
"Tough bastard," Ryoji muttered under his breath.
The Minotaur's muscles were unnaturally dense. Even with his current strength, already pushing past six hundred points, it felt like he was cutting through cured leather. His katana, chipped and dulled, looked ready to snap at any moment.
(End of Chapter)