Ren moved like a waltz on a stage, graceful yet powerful.
Passersby adventurers were shocked, thinking a high-ranking adventurer had come down to slaughter low-level monsters.
"Amazing," Lefiya murmured, watching the dancing figure. She thought of Ais—someone else who moved like that.
Sensing the gaze on him, and realizing these monsters couldn't force him to use his full strength, Ren drew his sword. With a single strike, all the monsters were defeated.
Only then did he look at the elf girl, whose beauty was top-tier, staring blankly ahead.
"Hey, don't zone out in a dungeon. Otherwise, you won't even know how you died," Ren muttered to himself, recalling waking up with a goblin pressed against his face, shivering at the memory.
"Ah… oh, sorry," the girl quickly apologized.
"Sigh. You didn't offend me, so no need to apologize. Life's your own. Since you're in a dungeon, you should be careful. Where's your teammate?" Ren asked.
"She's behind me," the girl replied softly.
"She's coming," Ren said, turning and heading further inside.
"Um, thanks…"
"Lefiya, stop daydreaming," a dark-skinned girl said, kicking a wolf that had lunged at her to death.
"Tiona, sorry," the elf girl said, recalling what the boy had said earlier.
"So why apologize to me?" Tiona sighed.
"That boy said the same thing just now," Lefiya muttered instinctively.
"A boy?" Tiona looked at her curiously.
"You know, the one who wanted to join our Familia earlier?"
"Oh, him? What about it?"
"He's so strong," Lefiya described what she had just seen. Though she didn't want to admit it, she had glimpsed Ais's figure in him.
"That impressive, let's go check it out," Tiona said, suddenly interested. She grabbed Lefiya and headed toward where Ren had gone.
"Hey…" Lefiya had no time to resist before being pulled along.
Ren walked steadily, passing the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors, all the way to the seventeenth. The floor boss hadn't respawned yet, so Ren patiently waited outside the room for the eighteenth floor.
"Is he planning to solo the floor boss?" Lefiya's face showed shock.
"Looks like that's the case. By the way, the floor boss is about to respawn, and it happens to be today," Tiona analyzed.
"Those two following us look bored. Want to chat for a bit?" Ren offered.
Lefiya felt a little shy but was pulled along by Tiona.
"You're really impressive, just reached Lv2 and daring to challenge the floor boss already," Tiona said, patting Ren on the shoulder like they were old friends.
"Um…" Lefiya wanted to say something but was interrupted by Ren.
"You want to say I'm overestimating myself, right? Don't worry, just say it. I love proving people like that wrong."
"You're really interesting. Don't worry, if you can't handle it, I'll save you," Tiona laughed.
"My name is Ren."
"I'm Tiona Hiryute, and she's Lefiya Viridis. We're from the Loki Familia," Tiona introduced.
"I'm from the Hestia Familia. I even thought about joining the Loki Familia once, but didn't succeed," Ren said jokingly, brushing it off.
"I've heard about that. Congrats on reaching Lv2. You've already surpassed the Record Holder Sword Princess in levelling up," Tiona said, patting Ren again.
Lefiya felt awkward, unsure what to say, but she didn't dislike Ren and felt he wasn't a bad person.
"You're not here to find me today, right?" Ren asked with a smile.
"Hmm, Lefiya said she wanted to train, but it seems she failed again."
"Want to team up with me? It's better if our levels are close," Ren invited the elf girl.
"Ah, me?" Lefiya's voice was weak, wanting to refuse, but Tiona didn't give her the chance.
"Sure. Lefiya, you entered the dungeon to get stronger, right? I'll stay back and watch. Just do your best," Tiona said directly.
"Why am I doing this…" Lefiya thought, instantly regretting her decision.
In the blink of an eye, the floor boss began to appear. A massive monster materialized—Goliath. Its presence alone made Lefiya tremble. Even though floor bosses were swiftly defeated by high-level adventurers during expeditions, it didn't mean they were weak.
"Lefiya, right? Use your magic. Don't worry about anything else." Ren said, then disappeared.
Lefiya forced herself to calm down. Magic was powerful, but it had a fatal weakness—its casting time was too long. In a team, the caster was usually protected while using magic to bombard the enemy.
Goliath, having lost Ren as a target, turned its attack toward Lefiya. Its mouth began to form, and the attacks became tangible.
Lefiya was terrified. She immediately stopped chanting the spell. When the attack came, she sat on the ground with her eyes closed.
"What are you doing, Lefiya?"
Lefiya opened her eyes. The attack was gone. Only a boy holding a sword stood in front of her.
"Sorry."
"Do you do this often?" Ren asked as he easily shattered the floor master's attack.
"Yes," Lefiya nodded.
Boom—
"If you don't trust me, fine. But can't you also trust your companions?" Ren used the back of his sword to send the floor master flying.
Tiona, watching from the side, looked serious. If Ren wanted, he could probably defeat the floor master quickly. But he didn't. Instead, he was lecturing Lefiya. His focus was on her? Well, as an elf, Lefiya was indeed strikingly beautiful.
"I trust them…" Lefiya hurriedly replied.
"I can use magic too. I have the right to judge. You don't. True trust means believing they will protect you, so you can cast your magic without worry. Now, continue chanting. Don't worry about the monster's attacks." Ren said, then disappeared.
Though still afraid, Lefiya remembered her own courage during the expedition. Gritting her teeth, she began chanting again. She wanted to make a difference, to become a support for Ais.
It was clear that endless failure awaited, because the floor master couldn't catch sight of Ren. All his attacks were aimed at Lefiya, but Ren blocked every single one.
After a long time, seeing that he still couldn't take down his target, the floor master went into a berserk state. Nearby monsters began to riot, rushing over, intending to attack Lefiya.
"This guy's target is definitely Lefiya," Tiona thought quietly. Who would help a complete stranger so much on their first meeting? She started clearing the surrounding monsters that had gone berserk.
"Lefiya, your companions are keeping you safe, yet you don't trust them. Look at Miss Tiona—see what she's doing," Ren gestured toward her, dealing with the monsters rushing over in a frenzy.
Presumably, more adventurers in unseen locations had fallen into trouble. Thanks to Ren's sensing ability, no adventurer was in real danger yet, but chaos had already begun to spread.
**********
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