Levi drew the five-meter-long Cryo element greatsword from its sheath, and in the next instant, it became a pale blue-white, semicircular phantom arc, severing the necks of three Blood Dragons approaching him.
[Mana Burst · Cryo · 5-Star (-)]
[Chantless]
[Basic: Enchants the user with the Cryo attribute. All ability scores, excluding Magic, are drastically increased (+1000).]
[Advanced · Wrap: A single ability score, excluding Magic, is enhanced to a transcendent level (+2000).]
[Advanced · Circle: Drastically increases environmental perception.]
[Advanced · Blade: Drastically increases the weapon's attack power.]
[Advanced · Shield: Drastically increases the armor's defensive power.]
...
[Mana Manipulation · 4-Star (-): Acquires the Development Ability 'Mage E'. Allows for a moderate degree of intervention over one's own mana, moderately reduces mana consumption, and moderately increases the growth rate of magic proficiency.]
...
As black ash scattered, seven Magic Stones, each the size of a child's fist, fell to the ground.
At the same time, on the status panel visible only to Levi, the progress bar next to his level finally reached 100% after he had slaughtered an unknown number of Lv.3 monsters.
"Phew—"
The short, pale-gold-haired young man let out a breath, dissipating the Cryo element from his blade while giving the wrist holding the hilt a light shake.
He then sheathed his sword, turned, and spoke to Tsubaki, who was walking forward to pick up the Magic Stones and drop items from the Blood Dragons: "My excelia should be about full."
"Are you sure?"
Hearing this, Tsubaki was actually somewhat skeptical.
Levi's displayed combat prowess was simply too astonishing. Defeating monsters from the 25th floor in a single blow was one thing; after all, many Lv.2 adventurers who had raised their ability scores to S or A could manage that with some buffing skills.
But against monsters from the 30th floor and beyond, even a true Lv.3 adventurer could be killed instantly with the slightest mistake.
Yet the young man not far away still seemed completely at ease.
Even when they encountered a 'Monster Party' over two hours ago and faced more than 60 Blood Dragons at once, he had only asked her to help by drawing the attention of less than half of them.
As for the rest, he combined ranged and close-quarters combat, along with the Cryo element shield that had been active for the past two days, to successfully wear them down one by one.
In fact, it was precisely because of this unexpected encounter that the excelia Levi would have otherwise needed another day or two to accumulate surged to its limit in just a few short hours.
Simultaneously facing over 40 high-tier Lv.3 monsters was no easy task, even for him.
"I wouldn't joke about my own Valis."
"Alright, then."
Seeing Levi's reassurance, Tsubaki nodded. After picking up the last Magic Stone, the two began their return journey.
Tsubaki was a Lv.5 adventurer, and Levi was someone who could slay Lv.3 monsters with relative ease.
When descending through the floors, they had intentionally moved slower for safety and to allow Levi to accumulate excelia.
But returning to the surface didn't require such trouble.
Especially once Tsubaki joined the fight, the entire process became incredibly smooth.
The general process went something like this:
The labyrinth's walls would crumble, and several monsters would emerge.
The next second, anywhere from two to five enchanted arrows would successfully pierce the heads of one or two of the monsters.
Two seconds later, Tsubaki, wielding her beloved sword 'Benishigure,' would charge in front of the monsters, the faint glint of her blade sending them all back to the labyrinth's cycle of rebirth.
They reached the surface on the fourth day after entering the labyrinth.
Tsubaki said goodbye to Levi and headed to The Guild to handle the Magic Stones.
For ordinary adventurers, starting from the Middle or Lower Floors, most would choose to kill monsters by destroying their Magic Stones out of concern for their own safety.
However, doing so would significantly reduce the income they could get from the Magic Stones.
Often, farming in the Lower Floors for two or three days would yield less profit than farming in the Middle or Upper Floors for just one day.
That being said, in reality, the deeper one ventured, the more wealth they could acquire.
The reason for this lay in the monsters' additional drop items.
The steel shells from Blue Crabs, the scales of giant serpents, the blood of mermaids, and the dragon scales and dragon blood from draconic monsters...
Any one of these could easily sell for several million.
If it happened to be a time when materials were scarce on the surface, the price could rise to tens of millions, and there would still be plenty of willing buyers.
Originally, Levi was a classic example of someone with terrible luck.
He had farmed solo in the Upper Floors for nearly a month, killing several thousand monsters in that time, but had only ever seen Magic Stones, never any extra materials.
But now, with the appearance of the Development Ability 'Luck', that situation had clearly improved.
During his time in the Lower Floors, Levi had killed a total of 400 monsters.
Because he was already accustomed to a fighting style that targeted vital points while intentionally preserving the Magic Stone, the net profit from this alone allowed him and Tsubaki to each get five or six hundred thousand.
In addition, from the Blood Dragons he fought most often, he had obtained four dragon scales, a portion of dragon blood, and a dragon heart.
The Blood Dragon scales were worth 1 million each, and Tsubaki, as a smith, bought them all. The dragon blood and dragon heart, being even rarer pharmaceutical materials, were bought out by the Dian Cecht Familia for 12 million Valis.
Adding in the Goliath hide he had obtained before and materials from other monsters, after liquidating everything, Levi did a quick calculation and was surprised to find that his Valis hadn't decreased from hiring Tsubaki as a guard; instead, it had increased by about 1 million.
Tsubaki was also smiling at this point. She patted her slightly bulging backpack and said, "If your luck is always this good, I wouldn't mind accompanying you into the Dungeon a few more times. I can even waive the hiring fee, as long as you agree to sell to me first when I need materials."
"You really don't like losing out on anything, do you," Levi muttered, but despite his words, he didn't refuse.
He had no plans to expand the Hestia Familia in the short term.
And right now, Tsubaki seemed to be the only person he could team up with.
"Hehe~" The black-haired, red-eyed, one-eyed master smith laughed and scratched the back of her head. "Let's call it a day. I need to go back and process these materials."
"Alright." Levi nodded, not keeping her any longer.
He was also eager to update his Falna and level up.
But before they parted ways, as if remembering something, Levi added, "Oh, right. If you can, keep the day after tomorrow free. I might need to go down into the Dungeon again."
Tsubaki was stunned by his words. Although she had heard Levi mention his situation before, at this moment, she couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity, even shock.
"You... Never mind. I'm not a professional adventurer, so what's the point in comparing myself to you? The ones who should really be feeling dejected are those guys in the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia."
____
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