Chapter 28: The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 28: The Calm Before the Storm

The battle ended quickly.

In the midst of the storm of slashes, not a single monster survived, all turning into a scattered mess of limbs and debris, leaving Riezel victorious.

"What happened?"

Returning with his slender sword in hand, Riezel was puzzled as he saw Lefiya standing there with a blank expression.

"No-Nothing!" Lefiya snapped back to reality, shaking her head while hesitating as she looked at him.

"Just say what you want to say."

Seeing her hesitation, Riezel spoke up.

"T-That..." Lefiya stuttered for a moment. "Do you know Miss Ais?"

Clearly, witnessing his fighting style so similar to Ais's, Lefiya began to doubt their relationship. She even recalled that not long ago, when she and the others returned from the expedition, Ais seemed to have noticed the newly joined Riezel and was quite attentive to him.

This unavoidably made Lefiya think too much, and her gaze towards Riezel changed.

In response to her question, Riezel raised an eyebrow while smiling faintly.

"Are you that concerned about my relationship with Miss Ais?"

Without hesitation, Lefiya nodded, then quickly shook her head afterward.

"I-I'm just a bit curious!"

Her face turned inexplicably red, with a guilty look.

Seeing her funny reaction, Riezel chuckled and answered her question.

"I consulted her about magic and coincidentally learned some of her swordsmanship. Apart from that, there's nothing else between us."

Instead of calming Lefiya, his explanation left her stunned.

"Consulted about magic?" Lefiya looked perplexed.

"Yeah." Riezel nodded. "I have magic with a nature similar to your 'Elf Ring'."

"Oh..." Lefiya instantly understood. But precisely because she understood, she became even more astonished.

"Does Mr. Riezel have the same magic as me?" Lefiya was extremely surprised.

"Well, somewhat similar." Riezel didn't elaborate much and simply agreed with her.

'Does that mean... He learned Miss Ais's magic...?' Lefiya muttered quietly inside her heart.

Her first thought wasn't about getting closer to him, who had the same type of magic as her, but rather, an instinctive urge to shout.

'So envious!'

Without warning, she looked at him with eyes filled with envy, almost as if there was a great divide between them.

'Why isn't Miss Ais an Elf?'

Lefiya couldn't help but puff her cheeks as she thought about her magic, which was restricted to learning only from the same race.

"Okay, let's keep moving." Riezel chuckled awkwardly, quickly changing the topic and turning to leave.

If not for the awkward issue of how to explain, he would have suggested putting the backpack in the Dimensional Magic Cube's storage space.

With the existence of storage space, he didn't need to worry about the weight problem.

Unfortunately, he couldn't say that, so he could only watch her diligently retrieve every magic stone and continue to carry the large backpack.

"Done!"

After a while, Lefiya finally ran back.

"Let's go." Riezel nodded, turned, and walked away.

"W-Wait for me!"

She hurriedly caught up, temporarily setting aside another question in her mind. But this question lingered throughout the day in her heart.

'Even though he's a rookie who recently received a blessing, why is he so powerful?'

Staring at his figure speeding up and charging into the group of monsters ahead without fear nor hesitation, this question persisted in her heart.

===

Amid Riezel and Lefiya boldly pushing forward as a newly formed party, little did they know that right after they left, an anomaly erupted in the very place they had just departed from.

*Crack—*

It started as a faint cracking sound.

On the dungeon walls, a crack appeared without any warning, emitting a subtle gleam from within.

*Ba-dump! Ba-dump!*

A heartbeat seemed to echo within, growing louder with each passing moment.

This spectacle wasn't uncommon in the dungeon. Any adventurer had encountered this phenomenon more or less. Because this was the sign of a monster about to be born.

Indeed, monsters in the dungeon were birthed this way.

They didn't exist as life in the dungeon from the start; rather, they incubated and hatched within the dungeon.

Just like birds breaking out of their shells, monsters would emerge from the dungeon walls at regular intervals, ensuring an endless supply and an unchanging number of monsters in the dungeon.

This explained why the types of monsters encountered on each floor were typically fixed.

Each species had a designated birthplace and rarely ventured to other floors unless something unexpected occurred.

Of course, exceptions existed.

And now, this exception was unfolding on the 6th Floor.

This was the so-called anomaly.

*Crackle—!*

Amidst the grating cracking sounds, the dungeon walls were giving way, allowing a massive figure to emerge from within.

*ROAAAAAARRR—!!!*

Before long, an ear-splitting roar reverberated through the floor, causing it to tremble slightly as if offering a blessing for its emergence.