Dungeon, 17th Floor.
"Goliath has already been defeated?" A blonde girl with a large backpack looked at the empty labyrinth, her tone filled with disappointment.
The 13th to 17th floors of the dungeon were known as the cave labyrinth, with the 13th floor marking the boundary between the upper and middle floors. Starting from the 13th floor, the walls, floors, and ceilings were all made of sturdy stone. Compared to the simpler circular mazes of the upper levels, the middle floors had a more complex layout, including intersecting tunnels that went both up and down. The light dimmed, and the air became damp. Vertical holes leading to deeper floors also appeared randomly.
On the 17th floor, there was a large room containing a massive wall, called the "Wall of Grief," which was the birthplace of the Monster Rex, the giant Goliath. Monster Rex are a special type of monster, born only on specific floors, possessing far greater basic abilities than the average monsters of the same region.
For instance, the Monster Rex of the 17th floor, the giant Goliath, had an overall stats comparable to a Level 4, with its endurance reaching Level 5 territory. By contrast, the strongest regular monster in the area, the Minotaur, only had an overall stats of a Level 2.
Monster Rex only spawned one at a time, and as long as it wasn't killed, no new Monster Rex would appear. Its respawn cycle was also much longer than that of normal monsters. For example, Goliath took two weeks to respawn after being defeated.
The blonde girl had rushed excitedly to the 17th floor upon hearing about Goliath's respawn, but she arrived too late.
"Now that I think about it, the Ishtar Familia's expedition team only returned to the surface yesterday. They must have taken down the newly respawned Goliath on their way back… Ugh." She let out a frustrated groan, her figure slumping slightly, as if the weight of her enormous backpack had gotten even heavier.
This blonde girl was none other than Ais Wallenstein, the Sword Princess of the Loki Familia, the youngest first-class adventurer in the entire world, and a 13-year-old Level 5 prodigy. Yet despite her unmatched talent, she now found herself burdened with immense pressure—or rather, debt.
The Loki Familia's previous expedition had ended in failure due to Ais's reckless behavior, and as a result, her bonus and allowance had been completely cut by her guardian, Riveria. On top of that, she was responsible for compensating the Familia for the enormous financial losses they suffered because of her. Even after selling all the magic stones and drop items from the strengthened dragon monsters she'd defeated, it still wasn't enough to cover her debt. At her young age, Ais had already accumulated a massive debt of 200 million valis, equivalent to capturing 2.5 Ryuu.
Additionally, Riveria had strictly forbidden her from venturing into the lower and deep floors of the dungeon. Even the latter half of the middle floors was off-limits to her, restricting her activities to the 18th floor and above. This was due to the "vertical hole" mechanism in the middle levels. If Ais accidentally fell into a hole leading to the 27th floor, she might encounter the Monster Rex Amphisbaena, a twin-headed dragon with Level 5 stats and Level 6 aquatic combat ability.
It was clear that the leaders of the Loki Familia intended to teach Ais a hard lesson, while also tempering her reckless personality.
Fearing that she might be sold off by Riveria to repay her debt, Ais pulled an all nighter writing her apology letter before rushing into the dungeon to grind for magic stones.
To save money, Ais didn't even hired a supporter, choosing to carry the heavy backpack herself. After all, with her Level 5 abilities, carrying a backpack didn't hinder her from hunting monsters in the upper and middle floors.
Her primary target was, of course, the strongest monster in the upper and middle floors—the Monster Rex Goliath, whose massive magic stone and drop item, [Goliath's Tooth], she had been eyeing to repay her debt.
But unfortunately, she returned empty-handed.
"In that case, I'll just have to head back up."
Since she couldn't go beyond the 18th floor, her only option was to hunt weaker monsters like Minotaurs, Hellhounds, or Ligerfang, which were only Level 2 in strength. Though Ais was tempted to sneak into the lower floors to repay her debt faster, she resisted the urge when she thought about Riveria's disappointed gaze.
If she acted recklessly again, this time it's not going to be a slap on the wrist any more, Riveria might really give her a good spanking with a belt.
And of course, the cost of purchasing that belt would be added to Ais's debt—after all, it would be considered equipment used by "Miss Ais."
With a sigh, Ais pulled out a potato snack from her backpack, munching on it as she picked up her sword and prepared to head back to the upper floors.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the dungeon, Emiya Shirou had just reached the 12th floor.
Strictly speaking, this area wasn't meant for beginners. The guild's recommendation was that adventurers with basic abilities at least reaching Rank B should explore floors 10-12. However, Emiya Shirou was no ordinary adventurer, and his combat abilities couldn't be measured solely by standard parameters.
The most powerful monsters on floors 11-12 were the Infant Dragons, a small dragon about 150 cm tall and over four meters long, with overall abilities at Level 2. Some even compared Infant Dragons to the Boss monsters of the upper floors where Monster Rex doesn't spawn. However, Infant Dragons were extremely rare—there were few records of them being defeated, and even sighting reports were scarce, rarer than the elusive Blue Papilio.
Emiya Shirou didn't have the luck to encounter an Infant Dragon today, but even if he did, he had both the means to confront it and the ability to escape if necessary.
In the worst-case scenario, he could use the magic sword loaned to him by Tsubaki and unleash a Level 4 mage's magic attack to eliminate the monster.
But today, the rare Infant Dragons weren't his focus. Shirou's goal on the 12th floor was to hunt Orcs—monsters with overall abilities still at Level 1, but with some stats nearing Level 2, making them around Level 1.5.
He didn't intend to delve deeper than the 12th floor, though. Beyond that, packs of Level 2 monsters would start appearing, and going further wouldn't be an adventure—it would be suicide.
"Three isolated Orcs…"
Emiya Shirou raised his bow and launched an attack. Drawing the longbow to its fullest, an arrow flew out with far more speed and power than when he was hunting goblins. The armor-piercing arrowhead embedded itself into the throat of an Orc. For most creatures, this would be a fatal wound, but the large boar-headed monster entered a frenzied state.
"Such resilience… as expected from a monster," Shirou muttered, firing another arrow that pierced the Orc's knee, causing it to fall to the ground, penetrating the first arrow even deeper, the Orc clutched its throat and writhed around the ground in agony.
The other two Orcs roared and charged at him, but Shirou calmly put away his bow.
"Trace on."
Two long swords materialized in his hands. As the enraged Orcs rushed toward him, Shirou didn't attempt to dodge. Instead, he dash forward and face them head-on.
One of the Orc raised its heavy wooden club, aiming to smash Shirou with a downward blow. In its eyes, with Shirou's slight frame, even if he blocked the strike, the force would shatter both him and his weapon.
But Shirou had no intention of blocking. With the Orc's guard wide open as it raised its weapon, he did something most swordsmen would never dare to do—he threw his sword.
The distance between him and the Orc, a few meters, was covered instantly by the flying sword, which struck the Orc's chest. However, it only pierced through the surface layer of skin and muscle.
The Orc had incredible endurance, and with Shirou's current strength, the strike wasn't enough to break through its defenses.
But he had another strike ready.
With perfect accuracy, the longsword in his right hand thrust forward, striking the hilt of the first sword still embedded in the Orc chest. The blade pierced deep into the monster's body, sending a shower of blood into the air. The Orc's raised arm trembled, and then fell limply to its side, its body quickly vanishing into thin air, only leaving behind a shattered magic stone.
The third Orc, seeing its companions easily killed, turned around and fled in fear.
Exposing one's back to an archer, even if that archer now held a sword, was a fatal mistake.
"Trace on."
In Shirou's hand, a 30-centimeter straight-bladed short sword appeared. Nocking the short sword onto his bow, the sword narrowed and stretched into a form more appropriate for shooting. Releasing the bowstring, the transformed sword whistled through the air, striking the Orc at the base of the neck.
At first, the Orc didn't seem to be affected, as such an attack was nothing against its high endurance—until the next moment, when it collapsed to the ground, lifeless. A charred smell wafted from the wound on its neck.
The magic sword Shirou had projected had activated inside the Orc, burning its spine from within. Though it was one of the weakest magic swords, and its firepower wasn't even enough to pierce the Orc's thick hide, when ignited internally, even a small flame could cause devastating damage.
"Phew… projecting magic swords consumes a lot of mana," Shirou sighed. Projecting magic swords costed a little more mana than directly casting the magic, costing far more mana than normal weapons.
The advantages magic swords had over regular magic was that they required no incantations and could be cast instantly—qualities that made magic swords highly valued as trump cards by adventurers, while also consuming little to no mana, though this quality was lost on projected magic swords.
For now, Shirou's strongest attack method was projecting magic swords, but with his current mana reserves, he couldn't yet project more powerful weapons like the Spiral Sword, let alone high-rank noble phantasms.
Shirou glanced over at the Orc he had initially shot through the throat. It was still struggling, its tenacity impressive. Without hesitation, he projected a sword, delivering a finishing blow, destroying the magic stone in its chest.
"Who's there?" Emiya suddenly turned his head.
As an archer, his senses were sharp, and just now, he had caught the faint sound of a human voice.
It sounded like a girl's cry of surprise.
With a magic sword in hand, Emiya raised its tip, pointing it towards the labyrinth walls behind him.
In the dungeon, humans could sometimes be more dangerous than monsters. At least with monsters, their capabilities were well-documented. But with humans, you never knew what kind of person you might run into.
From behind the wall, a small figure peeked out. She had long, beautiful golden hair, and was carrying a disproportionately large backpack on her back while nibbling on a fried potato snack. Her small, adorable face was smudged with dust, likely from peeking over the wall, which somehow made her even more endearing.
The girl was shorter than Emiya by a few centimeters, looking no older than twelve or thirteen. She stared at him with wide eyes.
"That was amazing!" she said, her face expressionless, but her gem-like, beautiful eyes sparkled with admiration.
————-
Supporter Backpack
https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/Liliruca_Arde?file=Lili_Season_2.png
Orc
https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/DanMachi_Manga_Chapter_27?file=DanMachi_Chapter_27.jpg
Shirou Two Long Sword
https://images.app.goo.gl/ehybQjJjYfWuDKbs6
Ais Fried Potato Snack
https://www.reddit.com/r/DanMachi/comments/o4rjjz/cute_ais/