"Of course, I haven't checked yet, we'll know once we are about to enter anyway." Of course, this was a lie, he already knew it allowed from level 1 to 10 to enter. He was currently level 9, and she was probably still level 1 or so.
Seeing as things were changing from the original slightly, Ren thought it better to just ask, "what level are you?"
"I am currently at level 4."
'How? She shouldn't have done any raids.' "How's that possible? Have you entered a dungeon already?"
"No, I got EXP potions from my father," she answered without a beat. Giving the fact that using potions to raise one's level was usually a shameful thing, Ren was surprised at the lack of shame.
"Oh, makes sense then." He thought to himself that she would be alright. Knowing she was such a level meant he didn't need to actively try to protect her later.
'Well, rich people sure have their comfort.'
Unlike Ren, Linda was actually from a well off background and both her parents were strong, so it was only natural for her to have such talent. Despite that, she was written to kind of break off from her family because she refused to follow through an arranged marriage between her family and another prominent family that would have pushed their family high up in social status. Because of her decision, she stopped receiving full support from her family, and she herself had the burning desire to become stronger so she could put all the people who pushed her out of the family to shame.
Well, being from a big family with good social presence, her situation was not made public, and if she was to run into any of her sibling in public, they were bound to treat her well. Well, that's by the way.
"What about you? What's your level?" Linda asked curiously.
"I'm currently at level 9, I was lucky enough to raid a dungeon after we got into the academy." Ren had no reason to hide anything, so giving away such information was alright.
"I see, that's why you are so strong even though we just got into the academy."
"Yes."
"Are you raiding with a team? Where are they?" Linda was curious. She asked before, but she didn't get an answer exactly.
"No, I'm going alone, but now, I guess you're tagging along."
'So he raided the first dungeon alone?...' Thinking about it, she realized that he had raided a dungeon alone even when he was level 1, and to be able to level up so much in just one raid meant that the level of the dungeon was not low at all. 'Ren…'
. . .
[Orc Settlement]
-Clear condition-
You must kill the Orc chief within the time limit.
-Remaining Time-
3:00:00
. . .
"Hmm, 3 hours, good enough."
Ren and Linda had entered the dungeon and were currently in the middle of a forest, the only difference now was that they were on top a cliff and could see the Orc camp after they reached the edge.
Ren's intention of bringing Linda was simple, to test how capable she was. In the original story, all the main cast were quite capable because of their talent, but maybe that was only because the story only gave them problems they could handle together that were just a little bit stronger than them, for most of the time.
'This should create a good testing ground against strong foe. Remembering the original, Ray was lucky to find a return stone after the first Orc… typical, and he used it after the fourth Orc.' He needed to return with his friends to clear the dungeon because it was so difficult alone that he almost died.
'Well, that does not apply to me, even though I was not at my current level. I really don't believe just any regular monster or human can block my slash skill.' Ren was very confident in himself and his skill.
"Come on, let's go."
Despite the time being night outside, inside the dungeon it looked to be afternoon.
'Orcs are hunters, so they have teams that always go out to hunt during the day and only return at night or during the evening. I will have to find a way to drag them back to the camp… can't let such precious EXP go away.' Ren thought to himself.
Thinking about it, Ren decided it would be better to locate a group of Orc hunters first before heading for the main target of killing the chief. That way he would be able to put Linda to the test.
The cliff wasn't so high up, so Ren was sure he could jump down without suffering any injury easily, the problem was Linda, it was definitely too high for her. 'I could just take her down, but we have time to go around, and we might even run into a hunting group on the way.' Ren turned around walking along the edges to see if they would find a way down.
After a few minutes, they did find a way down, and luckily, they ran into a hunting group. The group had six Orcs in total, with one of the Orcs looking bugger than the rest and more built physically.
'That's definitely…'
"An Orc captain? Those are tough, how should we attack it?" Linda asked.
'Well, I guess I am the natural leader in this situation.'
"Don't worry about this one, I'll handle it."
The very next moment, from Linda's perspective, Ren had suddenly disappeared from where he stood, and before her eyes to catch up and follow him, he was already in front of the Orc general as their distance was that of only around 10metres when they spotted each other.
*swipe
In one motion, Ren beheaded the Orc chief. After that, he quickly dispatched of the rest while leaving one alive.
Due to his skill, he didn't really need to worry about level gap of the opponent, flesh couldn't block against such a skill, instead, what would be more troublesome would be an enemy who has a skill that counter's his skill, be them a high level enemy or low.
Seeing how efficiently Ren had dealt with the enemies, Linda was certainly n a world of shock. She knew he was strong, but it seems she still underestimated his ability.
'He made it look so effortless… It's simply unbelievable.' Linda was stuck gazing at the scene as her body relaxed.
"Don't worry, I left one for you to kill, go ahead." Ren said nonchalantly as he found a good spot on a tree branch to sit, 'heh, I've always wanted to play the cool powerful character… only difference is that I won't become a Yamcha.'