After Ron clearly saw the girl who had suddenly come to visit—it was Yamato Mikoto of the Takemikazuchi Familia—he stopped his training movements and turned around with a relaxed expression.
As for the issue Mikoto had brought up.
To be honest—
There was no need to guess at all. It was definitely a foreshadowing left behind from their encounter in the Dungeon the day before yesterday: special monsters, and the Dungeon that was now under lockdown.
His gaze swept across the surroundings.
Finally, he proposed, "No problem. Want to go out and take a stroll while we're at it?"
"Up to you."
The girl was not particularly lively by nature.
Walking side by side with Ron, she was thinking about how to use a brief summary to ask all the questions in her heart that still had no answers.
Only—
When she thought that it might very well involve the other party's privacy, Mikoto felt rather helpless.
That day, when she had run into Ron by chance in the Dungeon, the elite goblin and the archer-type special monsters could still be explained as mutations caused by accidentally swallowing magic stones.
As for the means of "revival," it could also be classified as Ron possessing a special magic that allowed recovery from near-death.
But—
When the girl personally witnessed the occurrence of the Dungeon anomaly, and saw a floor boss—the "Goblin Guard"—be born in the shallow layers, her worldview collapsed on the spot.
As a Lv2 adventurer, when facing a Goblin Guard that appeared in the shallow layers, she still felt a trace of pressure.
In terms of strength, that monster was absolutely more powerful than the Minotaur of the middle layers. As for what exactly caused this, Mikoto could not understand it at all.
Until she saw Ron exploring on the 1st floor.
All of her questions instantly pointed toward the youth she had once guided.
"Ron."
"Perhaps this is somewhat presumptuous, but the anomalies appearing in the Dungeon—should be related to you, right?" The girl stopped in her tracks, her gaze burning as she spoke.
If it were an isolated incident, it could be treated as a coincidence.
But encountering such situations repeatedly, with Ron present every time as the person involved, and with anomalies occurring only on the 1st floor where he was—this was highly intriguing.
Realizing that her attitude had been too direct, Mikoto hurriedly explained, "Please don't misunderstand. I don't have any ill intent…"
If the Dungeon were merely spawning monsters in a targeted manner, Ron felt that Despicable Outsider could still remain hidden for a while. The problem was that the disturbance it caused was too great—anyone who had come into contact with it would inevitably take notice.
He gave a light shrug. "That kind of thing isn't something I can control either."
Seeing that Ron had no intention of discussing it further, the girl realized that he might not have understood her meaning. She lightly pressed her thin lips together, and finally made her request.
"What I mean is…"
"If time allows, could we form a party to explore the Dungeon together?"
Mikoto did not feel that—taking the initiative to propose forming a party with Ron, who had only recently become an adventurer, was anything embarrassing.
The Dungeon producing special monsters and anomalies was likely related to the skills Ron possessed. Lord Takemikazuchi had also once said that adventurers could even manifest skills that gods themselves were unable to interpret.
This was the other party's privacy, and she had no right to probe into it.
What Mikoto truly cared about was this: if even goblins from the upper layers could be strengthened to that extent, then if one advanced into deeper regions, what would the result be?
Just thinking about it—
The girl felt a surge of eagerness. Battling powerful monsters, tempering her own martial skills, and improving her ability values and level—this was what she pursued.
What was more—
Raising their overall strength as much as possible could also change the difficult situation of the Takemikazuchi Familia!
"So it was about that?"
Forming a party?
When exploring the Dungeon in the shallow layers, there was indeed no need for supporters or teammates. Acting alone was often the most suitable choice.
The grim difficulty of the "Soul-type Dungeon" greatly restricted the progress of exploration.
Even novice players in soul-style games could still co-op with veteran players and, under extremely harsh limitations, scrape together some transitional equipment to improve the overall gameplay experience.
But for Ron, it was different.
Once he used up his "Revival" count, he had to retreat immediately—and still worry about whether monsters would be camping his body when he revived.
Now that Mikoto had proactively made the request, he really could not agree right away. Not only did he need to consider his relationship with the Takemikazuchi Familia, but more importantly, the Dungeon's difficulty itself.
He was not afraid of death.
But he could not drag someone who had once helped him into the Dungeon just to get slaughtered, could he?
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
The girl nodded seriously.
Worried that such a plain answer would not be persuasive enough, she carefully arranged her words and said, "As a warrior, only by constantly challenging powerful enemies can one's strength improve."
"Even if it costs your life?"
"Exactly."
Her voice was pleasant, yet it seemed filled with strength.
As a Lv2 adventurer, Mikoto also possessed the bug-like magic of Futsunomitama. Placed in the early stages, she was unquestionably high-quality exploration talent.
Ron felt a bit tempted.
At the very least, forming a party meant having someone to watch each other's backs in the Dungeon, helping one another when danger arose.
It would maximize exploration efficiency around the number of uses of Revival, preventing him from being stuck crawling around the shallow layers—and there might even be a chance to take down a Goblin Guard.
With that in mind, he spoke directly: "I can state this clearly for you—if you form a party with me, the difficulty of Dungeon exploration will increase sharply, and you'll have to face all kinds of special monsters."
"There's a risk of death at any time."
"For me, too… this is a completely new kind of challenge."
With Ron's permission, the heavy stone pressing on Mikoto's heart quietly dissipated.
All kinds of special monsters…
She was already itching to try, and continued to ask, "When do we start?"
"Mm."
"After the Dungeon's lockdown ends. But my current exploration progress is relatively slow—I might still have to linger on the 1st floor. As for deeper regions…"
"The level of danger could be very high."
Ron answered without hesitation.
Before heading back to the collective dormitory after buying breakfast, he reminded her, "About forming a party—it's best not to let anyone else know."
"I'll keep the secret."
...
During the brief period of the Dungeon's closure, only adventurers returning from the deep layers left Babel Tower. No adventurers entered it.
In the end, the Guild issued its conclusion regarding the anomaly:
Cause unknown. After an item suspected of carrying a god's aura entered the Dungeon, it triggered a monster feast. The anomalous monsters have already been effectively cleared.
Adventurers could explore with peace of mind.
With the large number of adventurers entering the Dungeon every day, there was no reason for suspicion to fall on Ron. And during the two days when the Dungeon was closed, he had not been idle either.
Together with Mikoto—his prospective party member—he conducted practical combat training to hone their techniques, making advance preparations for challenging the 1st-floor Goblin Guard Boss.
On the morning of reopening day, the girl stood fully armed in front of the collective dormitory, wearing a fitted purple kimono adorned with shoulder armor.
This was the party date she had agreed upon with Ron. If today's exploration target were made known to other adventurers, it would certainly seem absurd.
Exploring the 1st floor and taking down the Goblin Guard.
Under normal circumstances, Mikoto would never linger in the shallow layers. Yet today she was filled with anticipation, as if the door to an entirely new world were slowly opening before her.
And Ron did not keep the girl waiting long.
Only—
When she clearly saw Ron fully armed, clad in a complete set of armor that tightly protected all vital areas, and carrying an exaggeratedly styled heavy brass shield on his back, the girl was instantly dumbfounded.
Setting aside the hand crossbows hanging on both sides, the rapier, and the short sword for the moment—
"Ron, aren't you being a bit too conservative?" In truth, Mikoto really wanted to say that with her Lv2 strength, she should be able to guarantee at least some degree of safety.
But what answered her was only the twitch at the corner of the boy's mouth, his expression peculiar as he said, "The Dungeon punishes all adventurers who fail to make proper preparations for exploration."—especially this gutter-tier, soul-type Dungeon that specializes in underhanded attacks to the groin.
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