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"Stop!"
Walking on the straight rocky path, Mika, who was leading the way at the front, raised his palm to halt the team's advance.
"There are monsters!"
Under the effect of his Nen ability 'En', everything within a twenty-meter radius centered on Mika was under his surveillance.
Therefore, he could clearly sense that there were monsters in the rocky chamber ahead.
"Mika, charge straight in. The narrow rocky path isn't suitable for team combat," Mellie said softly, immediately recognizing their predicament.
"Then let's begin the charge!"
Holding the shield in his left hand in front of his eyes, Mika's advancing steps grew faster and faster, quickly reaching his limit.
The less than twenty-meter rocky path was swiftly crossed, and the moment he rushed into the rocky chamber, Mika clearly saw the one-horned rabbits scattered all around.
In an instant, Mika chose a spot with fewer one-horned rabbits and crashed into it.
The powerful impact immediately sent several one-horned rabbits flying, followed by a mighty sword swing driven by his body's momentum, instantly clearing the area around Mika.
"Maintain a good triangular formation, be ready to support at any time."
"Understood!"
After instructing Airmid and Mellie, Mika focused all his attention on the monsters before him.
One-horned rabbits were one of the most common monsters in the middle floors.
As Level 2 monsters, their greatest advantage was speed.
Just like normal adventurers, monsters rarely have well-rounded development.
Apart from speed, the one-horned rabbits' other basic attributes, such as strength, were no lower than those of an elite Level 1 adventurer.
Theoretically, these one-horned rabbits shouldn't be too troublesome.
But the existence of the dungeon greatly enhanced the one-horned rabbits' combat power.
That is, a natural armory.
The one-horned rabbits could freely take rocks from the dungeon and turn them into stone axes, significantly increasing their attack power.
Moreover, they naturally possessed skilled throwing abilities.
If ordinary adventurers weren't careful and got hit in a vital spot by a stone axe, it could be a matter of life and death.
Mika swung his greatsword, clashing with the one-horned rabbit's stone axe. Without any pause, Mika's greatsword smoothly smashed this one-horned rabbit away, slamming it hard onto the ground.
"Monsters with weapons are indeed harder to deal with."
Glancing at the one-horned rabbit that wasn't killed in one strike earlier, Mika pondered silently.
Overall, the monsters on the 13th floor were much stronger than those on the 12th floor. The minotaurs that had once given Mika various troubles on the 12th floor could no longer withstand a single strike from him now.
But the one-horned rabbits, much smaller in size compared to minotaurs, could.
Dealing with the four one-horned rabbits before him, Mika also had to be constantly vigilant of stone axes flying from afar.
Compared to the 12th floor, the number of monsters Mika and his team needed to be constantly aware of had almost doubled, and was still increasing.
"Be careful, it's a hellhound!"
From above, Gabriel's warning quickly came.
"Where?"
"Fifty meters to Airmid's right!"
"Airmid!"
"Understood!"
Hearing Mika's shout, Airmid quickly darted out, charging rapidly towards the hellhound's position.
For them, they could gradually deal with other monsters on the 13th floor.
But not the hellhounds.
Their fire magic damage was terrifying.
One careless moment could bring enormous trouble to the three of them.
The fifty-meter distance rapidly decreased under Airmid's charge, and she quickly approached the hellhound.
Unlike the half-human-height one-horned rabbits, the hellhound was as large as a calf.
Its pitch-black fur, as if it had been charcoal-grilled, coupled with its blood-red eyes, made its aura truly terrifying.
Moreover, there wasn't just one hellhound, but three.
The moment they saw Airmid charging towards them, these three hellhounds slightly lowered their heads and began accumulating flames in their mouths.
When Airmid was very close to them, the three hellhounds simultaneously spewed out flames, intending to incinerate Airmid before them.
The three streams of flame collided and instantly turned Airmid's surroundings into a sea of fire.
But this still couldn't stop Airmid's charge.
In front of Airmid, the Fire Sprite Cloth perfectly protected her inside, keeping all the flames outside the cloak.
This was the fire resistance of the Fire Sprite Cloth.
Of course, achieving this level wasn't solely due to the Fire Sprite Cloth's effect.
It also included Airmid's own protection.
She used her Nen ability 'Ken' to envelop the Fire Sprite Cloth on her body, enhancing its 'fire resistance'.
Therefore, this Fire Sprite Cloth could so perfectly defend against the flame-spewing attacks of three hellhounds.
Wrapped in the Fire Sprite Cloth, Airmid quickly passed through the sea of fire and arrived in front of the hellhounds.
In this situation, Airmid, who had no intention of holding back, struck with full force. Surprisingly, with one spear thrust, she sent all three hellhounds flying, smashing them hard against the wall.
Airmid then seized the opportunity, quickly piercing the heads of these three hellhounds with her enhanced spearhead.
Then she swiftly returned to the team.
"Well done, Airmid!" Mika encouraged.
Before coming to the 13th floor, the three had arranged their tasks for the upcoming mission.
Among them, Airmid's task was to fully deal with the slightly distant hellhounds.
Except for the hellhounds, Mika's team rarely used aura for attack and defense at other times.
After all, their goal wasn't to delve as deep as possible into the dungeon, but to go as deep as possible while maintaining their strength growth.
For them, the most important thing was to improve their strength.
For adventurers wanting to enhance their strength, what's important isn't killing monsters, but self-training.
To increase strength, one needs to exert force.
To increase endurance, one needs to take hits.
To increase agility, one needs to run.
To increase dexterity, one needs to dodge.
To increase magic power, one needs to use magic.
The important thing is combat; killing monsters is just part of the self-improvement process.
The purpose is to pressure oneself through life-and-death situations, stimulating one's potential.
So in daily dungeon exploration, Mika didn't plan to use other abilities to fight. He would only use the purest physical body and magic under the divine blessing system to fight.
Other abilities were to be used only when saving lives.
For example, quickly dealing with hellhounds that posed a threat to their lives.
As Mika and his team continued to advance, the dangers of the middle floors were fully revealed before them.
Numerous monsters, with an alarming rate of spawning.
This resulted in Mika's team fighting non-stop since encountering monsters, without any chance to catch their breath.
"The mental and physical fatigue from constant fighting, along with the mental drain from the oppressive environment... No wonder this place is called the first death line. It's indeed challenging."
Slamming the one-horned rabbit in front of him hard onto the ground, and immediately turning to kill a hellhound with one sword strike.
Mika, continuing to clear the path ahead, couldn't help but sigh.
At this moment, an unexpected incident occurred.
"there's danger!"
Mika, who was running in the rocky passage towards the next chamber, suddenly sensed a dangerous aura.
But before he could react, violent tremors came from beneath his feet.
"Run quickly, the bridge is collapsing!"
Gabriel's shout also came, but it was too late.
In an instant, the originally stable rocky path suddenly collapsed, and Mika's team quickly fell towards the lower level.
And this was the most dangerous situation in the dungeon.
Namely, the dungeon's malice.
Feeling his weightless state, looking at the pitch-black below.
Mika estimated that the distance they were about to fall might not be just one floor, but possibly three or four floors high.
If they weren't careful with such a distance, they might all be in mortal danger.
"Mellie, summon Fufu to pull yourself! Gabriel, pull Airmid as well!"
"What about you?"
Seeing that the only two methods to slow the fall were given to them, Airmid quickly asked Mika.
"Don't worry, I have a way!"
Waving his hand, Mika said confidently.
Then, he shifted his attention to the surroundings, starting to calculate which floor they would fall to.
"We're about to land!"
Hearing Mellie's call, Gabriel and Fufu, who were already pulling Airmid and Mellie, quickly exerted more force to slow down the two.
Beside them, Mika was falling slowly as if he could fly.
It wasn't until he suddenly jumped down when close to the ground that Airmid and Mellie noticed that what had been supporting him earlier were two hand guards.
"This is bad, we've probably fallen three to four floors deep. This is either the 17th or 16th floor, but whichever it is, it's extremely dangerous," Mika said hurriedly, surveying the dim surroundings.
"We've descended three to four floors? Then apart from going back up, we should also be able to go deeper to the 18th floor's safe level for repairs, right?" Airmid suggested, remembering the safe levels.
In the dungeon, every dozen or so floors, there would be a level known as a 'safe level'.
Under normal conditions, the monsters on these safe levels don't have active aggression, allowing passing adventurers to use these floors for repairs.
Hearing Airmid's suggestion, Mika nodded slightly.
In the original story, the Hestia Familia, who had a similar experience to them, chose to seek help on the 18th floor.
"No way!" Mellie immediately objected. "Although it seems we have two or three ways to get rescued now, in reality, there's only one."
Looking at the confused Mika and Airmid, Mellie said seriously, "What's the purpose of going to the 18th floor? Of course, it's to find a high-level adventurer team capable of safely returning to Orario to help, right?"
"But don't forget, we need to hide our identities. To seek others' help, we'd definitely have to expose our identities, otherwise, no one would be willing to take us along."
"For the same reason, having Yahweh-sama go to the guild to request help from a stronger adventurer team is also ineffective. Therefore, our only choice is to fight our way back up."
Mika suddenly realized.
Indeed, for them, hiding their identities was more important.
Moreover, they did have the strength to fight their way back. Airmid suggested going to the 18th floor only because it would be safer.
Fighting their way back would certainly be fraught with danger.
"In fact, we have the full capability to fight our way back. Compared to other teams encountering this situation, we have an advantage that others can't match: the logistics carried by Gabriel."
"Ordinary teams don't have supplies as abundant as ours. Moreover, we have Airmid's magic. This is enough for us to fight our way back."
"Exactly!"
Mika cast an approving glance at Mellie.
Indeed, when encountering 'accidents', Mellie was much more reliable than him.
Nodding, Mika continued, "Besides, when using Nen abilities, we must be mindful of the aura amount in our bodies, especially Airmid. Your consumption should be greater due to the task of eliminating hellhounds earlier. You must be careful."
"Understood!" Airmid and Mellie said in unison.
This was also why Mika's team didn't commonly use aura in the dungeon. The three of them didn't have a large amount of aura, and they had no means of replenishment.
After Airmid and Mellie became Level 2, the potential aura limit of Mika's team had reached the average level of the Hunter world.
But they had only been Nen users for a short time, and their potential aura hadn't been developed to the limit.
Most importantly, they had no means of replenishment.
For adventurers, battle supplies in the dungeon are indispensable.
After all, battles in the dungeon are endless.
Here, whether it's physical strength, magic power, or aura, they will be quickly depleted once used.
Without supplies, it's impossible to persist for long in such a hell.
Therefore, as an important battle means for the three, aura must be used at crucial moments, because it can only be recovered naturally in the dungeon.
Just as the three had reached a preliminary consensus and were about to refine some details, the sound of chaotic footsteps suddenly entered Mika's ears.
"Monsters are coming, a lot of them!"
Gabriel's warning quickly came.
"Prepare for battle!"
Quickly standing up, Mika's team hurriedly entered a combat state.
"Gabriel, have you determined which floor this is?"
"Confirmed, this is the 16th floor!"
"The 16th floor? Fortunately, we didn't fall to the 17th floor. Looks like we're quite lucky!"
"How is this lucky at all?!"
"Then have you found the passage to the upper floor?"
"I've found it!"
"Guide us!"
"Turn left at the end ahead!"
"Understood!"
Considering the upcoming situation, Mika retrieved the shields obtained from the adventurers they had killed earlier from Gabriel's 'dimensional pocket'.
After slightly lifting this shield in his left hand, he began to charge.
"Follow me closely!"
"Understood!"
Mika started running forward rapidly, facing the monsters ahead with sword slashes in one hand and shield bashes in the other.
The monsters blocking his path were either slain or diverted to the sides to face Airmid and Mellie's slaughter.
But they soon encountered a problem: four monsters standing in the rocky passage, blocking their further advance - Minotaurs.
"Mellie, how many Minotaurs can you control?"
Based on Mellie's tests, he found that the number she could manipulate varied with the different strengths of monsters.
Mellie instantly understood Mika's meaning and quickly drew her staff to begin chanting.
"Immerse in the realm of dreams!"
Dream-like petals scattered around, and two of the four Minotaurs blocking Mika's team's path were quickly controlled, attacking their companions.
"If I have to fight while controlling, I can't control any. But with Fufu's enhancement, I can control two."
Manipulating dreams is extremely delicate work. When Mellie fully activates this ability, she's almost immobile.
And as the number of controlled targets increases, the precision decreases.
Back in the Heavens Arena, Mellie used all her strength to only manipulate the referee, while incidentally letting the surrounding audience watch an exciting battle spectacle.
"Two is enough!"
"Airmid!"
Hearing Mika's call, Airmid on the flank stomped hard on the ground and leaped towards Mika.
Mika's left-hand shield cushioned Airmid's foot, and with a push, Airmid, leveraging Mika's shield, leaped towards the Minotaurs ahead.
She must quickly dispose of those two injured Minotaurs, clearing the obstacles in Mika's path. They absolutely cannot be blocked by the surrounding monsters.
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