In the Dungeon, it was very common for adventurers to be surrounded by monsters.
But monsters being surrounded by adventurers—especially by a single adventurer—was something Kashima had never heard of, even with nearly two years of adventuring experience.
Rare.
Absolutely rare!
What was more important was that this adventurer was someone he knew very well.
A newcomer from the Hestia Familia, Ron—who had even received personal martial instruction from Lord Takemikazuchi. For various reasons, Kashima had been deeply impressed by him.
"So in such a short amount of time…"
"Ron—has he already grown to this level? And the ones he encountered were those special monsters. Looks like talent really does matter."
Recalling the battle just now—
Even Mikoto hadn't been able to deal with the Mimic War Shadow in a short time, and it was only with Chigusa's cooperation that they managed to successfully kill that special monster.
Kashima couldn't help but feel astonished.
He didn't try to stop Mikoto and Chigusa from going to support Ron.
After all, in the Dungeon, when people know each other, lending a hand is perfectly normal.
But then he looked at the girl who had stopped at the corner—and at the same time, at their hard-to-describe, constipated expressions.
Kashima frowned slightly, thinking it was because of the restriction he had set—"Do not casually interfere in other adventurers' battles." He quickly explained: "Helping each other among friends is actually pretty normal."
"Not…"
"I think Mr. Ron doesn't seem to need our help?" Chigusa tilted her head. She racked her brains but still couldn't describe that scene properly.
She could only point toward the distance.
Seeing this, Kashima, carrying his doubts, walked to the corner of the cave. The sight that entered his view immediately afterward made him doubt whether his eyes were playing tricks on him.
"Mm…"
"Why does it feel kind of strange?"
It was indeed a battle.
Ron, holding a brass heavy shield, was facing the encirclement of the imitation war shadows. He was genuinely calm and unhurried, completely at ease, with a sense of relaxation turned all the way up.
No matter how tricky the angles were,
when facing the coordinated attacks of these special monsters, he made no unnecessary movements at all.
A roll to his feet, raising his arm to block, and then plain, unadorned thrusts—and in this style of fighting, the monsters were forced to retreat step by step!
Who exactly was the monster here?
Kashima recalled the battle his team had encountered earlier.
Mikoto, who specialized in close combat, was like an assassin licking blood from the blade—every attack aimed at the vital points of the imitation war shadows, pursuing a swift and decisive victory.
But when it came to Ron, no matter how he thought about it, Kashima couldn't figure out how to describe him.
There was no technique to speak of. Holding up the brass heavy shield and standing there, Ron was like a completely sealed, utterly impenetrable city wall!
He couldn't even see any desire to attack from Ron. It was purely turn-based—after each round of monster attacks ended, Ron would begin his counterattack.
Yet the results were unexpectedly good!
Dragged out until the very end, those imitation war shadows showed no will to fight at all. Until their figures completely dissipated, they never delivered any substantive attacks.
He couldn't understand it—but he was deeply shaken.
Kashima tugged lightly at the corner of his mouth. Standing from the perspective of an onlooker, he thought about how every attack had been blocked, while he himself had been forced back step by step by Ron, constantly taking injuries.
That had to be suffocating!
At last, he understood why Mikoto and Chigusa hadn't gone to provide support.
"Honestly…"
Kashima's emotions were complicated. In the end, he couldn't help but give a battle summary: "A fighting style with no techniques, plain and unadorned—but extremely effective!"
At the very least, in all the time since he had begun learning martial skills and becoming an adventurer, he had never encountered a style like this… He also used a heavy shield—could he imitate it?
Only after Ron finished off the last special monster did Kashima look toward Mikoto.
"Since we happened to run into him in the Dungeon, should we go say hello?"
"Mm."
So this was Ron's state when exploring alone?
Mikoto nodded lightly. If the result was really as she had guessed, then what Miss Eina had called "steady" seemed not without reason after all.
So—this kind of fighting style that abandons all techniques and focuses purely on "winning"… who on earth taught him that?!
...
"This is what a truly exhilarating fight is—not rolling around like some wild dog by the roadside and then getting kicked to death by monsters."
"A true king stands firm, unmoving, and fights the opponent to the very last moment."
"This—this is what you call real hot-blooded combat!!"
What did the imitation war shadows feel?
Ron hadn't thought about that. But the combat method he had forged by integrating all techniques—the "shield-thrust style"—truly made him laugh out loud in relief when the battle ended.
It was all execution.
The attack power of those special monsters was not weak. If his ability values hadn't been updated and he had been sent straight in front of the imitation war shadows, the outcome would have been disastrous.
After all, in the face of absolute power suppression, this set of tactics simply didn't apply.
His gaze briefly swept over the drops from killing the imitation war shadows. He didn't find the familiar "ashes"—only three dark-purple magic stones.
"So—"
"Could it be that monsters like the imitation war shadow also have something like a floor-boss?"
Just as Ron formed this speculation, footsteps from behind caught his attention. Turning his head, he saw several familiar figures.
Members of the Takemikazuchi Familia.
Recalling his conversation with Mikoto yesterday at noon—today was supposed to be the day of their Familia expedition—being able to run into them in the Dungeon definitely counted as a kind of fate.
More importantly, they weren't unfamiliar adventurers who required special vigilance.
With a relaxed smile, he raised his hand in greeting.
"Mikoto, Miss Chigusa—are you on a Familia expedition? Running into each other in the Dungeon is quite a coincidence."
"Fate, perhaps."
Mikoto, dressed in a purple kimono paired with bright crimson armor, nodded lightly. But the look in her eyes as she gazed at Ron was already completely filled with curiosity.
No other reason.
Why was Ron here?!
Having previously shared a party exploration experience, she was well aware of just how high this guy's Dungeon difficulty was—so high that even floor-boss-level troublesome monsters could appear.
In terms of exploration speed, he absolutely couldn't compare to a Familia expedition.
Yet even though they had set out at dawn, encountered no obstacles along the way, and only faced ordinary monsters, they had barely reached the area of the sixth floor.
Just as Mikoto was struggling with how she should ask him about it—
Chigusa, who had far fewer schemes and leaned toward simplicity, voiced the doubt in her heart for her: "Um…"
"Mr. Ron, did you not return to Orario yesterday? How did you manage to explore to here so quickly today—faster than even our expedition?"
"…"
That was really a difficult question to answer.
Ron pondered it carefully. Still, since he had finally run into acquaintances in the Dungeon, it was a good opportunity to ask about information regarding this floor.
Facing the timid girl's curiosity, he didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Mikoto and asked, "Um—what floor is this again?"
"The sixth floor."
How could an adventurer possibly overlook a question like that?!
Mikoto truly didn't know how to complain about the guy in front of her. Her tone was filled with helplessness: "Don't tell me you don't even remember the areas you've explored."
"Mm…"
Recalling everything he had experienced today—the rolling-stone traps, the seemingly endless road straight to the boss room—Ron's mood became hard to put into words.
Who on earth designed this hellish Dungeon?!
"Well… if I said that I was originally planning to go explore the third floor, but somehow ended up here instead, would you… believe me?"
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