Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for just $7 to get early access to all upcoming chapters!
> Patreon/NegativeTranslations
─────
The expedition team continued forward, soon encountering white-furred bears. Their strength and endurance were terrifying, making them incredibly difficult to deal with even for Level 5s. Even among the 59th to 68th floors, these monsters possessed exceptionally high stats—Frost Bears.
Even a Level 5 adventurer would have to expend a considerable amount of effort to kill just one. Their potential threat level was arguably Level 6, and they spawned in massive numbers to besiege the group. The two great Familias constantly shrank their defensive line, forming a tight circle with Lucian at the center to weather this monstrous banquet.
Even after surviving it, no one showed a hint of joy. A heavy, oppressive atmosphere weighed down on everyone. Because they had Lucian's support this ti, the two great Familias originally intended to challenge the deeper domains, which was why many who didn't initially have the qualifications to reach these floors had been brought along. Without the 30% resistance boost from Lucian's aura, the two great Familias would likely have found it impossible to move a single inch.
As they journeyed deeper, new types of monsters appeared. Among them were Snow Imps, elental lifeforms resembling mucous creatures. Snow Imps were monsters that looked like chubby little snown. They seed cute, but their strength was top-tier. Particularly, their arrival affected the cold currents in the environnt. Every ti they faced a Snow Imp, they were confronting a blizzard head-on, causing a massive drain on everyone's stamina and body heat.
This operation was much slower than previous ones. As the day drew to a close, their exploration progress had only reached the 65th floor. The two great Familias found a relatively broad area away from the ice lakes, large enough to accommodate everyone. At the sa ti, they inflicted extensive damage to the surrounding ice-like walls, forcing the Dungeon to undergo self-repair, which left it without enough energy to spawn monsters.
"We'll have to spend the night in this state." Alfia spoke up. "If you can't adapt, you can leave on your own like you usually do."
"I haven't gotten that complacent yet," Lucian said, glancing at Alfia. "Besides, this isn't a safe zone. The danger level for you all is extrely high too."
The Ga Board's functions needed to unfold with Lucian at the center. Residents of the Divine Court like Ais could only access the interface for their own personal use. Therefore, if Lucian left, the lack of a god's-eye view would make things very dangerous, leaving them vulnerable to the Dungeon's sneak attacks.
As for everyone using teleportation to head to a safe zone together, the mbers of the two great Familias wouldn't do that. Doing so would breed complacency among the mbers, thereby negatively affecting their combat readiness.
"Suit yourself," Alfia said, her expression softening.
Lucian began to calculate the gains from this operation. In just one day, he had obtained around 2,400 stat points. If he solely used them to increase his basic stats, it would take less than two and a half days to level up from Level 1 to Level 2. This was the sheer amount of Excellia provided by monsters in the Deep Levels.
Generally speaking, there were two conditions for leveling up. First, any single ability stat had to reach D500~599. Second, one had to achieve a monuntal deed. A deed could simply be understood as Excellia, and its accumulation was tied to the strength of the opponents and the difficulty of the situation. The stronger the opponent defeated or the greater the hardship overco, the more Excellia accumulated.
At the sa ti, Excellia would be distributed within a party according to specific rules. As the god-tier support carrying the team, the Excellia Lucian received was certainly not small, not to ntion the massacre he pulled off in the 37th floor's Infinite Goblet. That wave alone was more than enough. At this mont, his overall stat average had already reached C680, and his Excellia was sufficient for a level up.
Although he could level up already, Lucian had no imdiate plans to do so. Since he still had potential left to develop, he naturally wanted to reach a perfect state before upgrading, given the conditions.
Soon. Lucian muttered inwardly, then closed his eyes, his true body appearing in the Divine Court.
From the Divine Court's spring to the Colosseum, Ais had been running back and forth constantly, and had now fallen asleep from pure exhaustion. She had even fallen asleep directly inside the sacred spring, forcing Bheara to fish her out. If she had drowned in the sacred spring... Lucian could already imagine how utterly absurd that situation would be.
"I even have to act like a mother." Bheara sighed speechlessly, then carried Ais toward the residential area.
She dried her body, changed her into clean clothes, and then returned to work. Lucian only took a fleeting glance before ignoring it, completely throwing himself into his own work.
Although it wasn't very safe in the Dungeon at night and they could be attacked by monsters at any mont. But standing guard had nothing to do with Lucian. Down on this floor, he would struggle against even normal monsters. Coupled with the fact that Alfia stayed by his side the entire ti to protect him, he maintained this state until the second day.
"Good morning." Opening his eyes, he saw Alfia sitting in front of him, greeting him with a faint smile.
"Morning." Lucian stretched his back.
"You slept very peacefully last night. Your adaptability is indeed quite good." Alfia said, "Being able to fall asleep at a mont's notice in the Deep Levels is a technique adventurers must master, but one must also be able to wake up at any ti... However, it seems there's no need for you to learn this technique."
What Alfia ant was that when stamina was severely depleted in the Deep Levels, one had to recover through deep sleep. Because an individual could absolutely never reach this domain on their own; past the 18th floor, capturing the Dungeon basically required a party. With companions present, taking turns to sleep and recover stamina and ntal strength, they forcefully mastered the ability to enter a deep sleep within seconds.
"Is there a possibility," Lucian said, "that I don't actually need to sleep?"
"!?" Alfia tilted her head.
"Or rather, my body is asleep, but my consciousness is awake," Lucian stated in all seriousness.
"Are you making a joke?" Alfia asked.
"Does that sound funny to you?" Lucian countered.
"I can't find the punchline." Alfia shook her head.
"Then it's true." Lucian stood up and said, "I have a very talented junior. Could I trouble you to be her teacher?"
Alfia blanked for a mont, wondering how Lucian's topic jumped so quickly. However, if going by Lucian's words, he was actually awake during the night, only she didn't know what he was doing. He was becoming more and more mysterious.
After thinking for a mont, she said, "If it's not too troubleso, that's fine. But... are you sure you want to be a teacher? Let make this clear first: when I talk to others, my temper isn't nearly this good."
Alfia was certain that the little Valis she gave, though ant as dical fees, wasn't nearly enough to repay the favor she owed Lucian. As for staying by his side to protect him at all tis during the expedition, that was simply because Lucian's importance to this operation left absolutely zero room for error, so it didn't count as repaying a favor.
Thus, she agreed decisively. But agreeing was one thing; if the 'disciple' perford poorly and got beaten, that was another. She had to issue a warning first so things wouldn't look too ugly later.
"Beat her all you want. If you make her cry, it's on ." Lucian said casually.
He didn't believe Alfia would actually be ruthless with Ais. Mainly because Ais was just too young. She was tiny and cute. In the original story, when Alfia took Ais's weapon and beat her using her own sword techniques, the sight of the tiny Ais getting visibly frustrated made even Alfia feel a sense of guilt.
Even if soone was stubborn, who could be cruel to such an adorable child~ Not to ntion, although Ais's talent didn't match Alfia's, there was still a qualitative gap between her and ordinary people. As a disciple learning techniques, she would absolutely give her teacher peace of mind.
─────
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comnts, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon/NegativeTranslations
User Comments
0 comments from readers