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"August, you were amazing!"
Once they stepped onto the first floor of the Dungeon, Liliruca Arde, who had been quiet until now, looked up at August with eyes full of admiration.
She never thought he would stand up for her. He could have believed the Soma mbers and left her alone, but instead he defended her, which ended up embarrassing them. The excitent of that mont was almost too much to handle.
"You were brave too, Lili," August said, looking down at the Pallum beside him and giving her real encouragent. "When you faced the truth about your past, you didn't run away. Standing your ground took a lot of courage."
When everyone in the plaza found out about her past, she could have run away. Instead, she stayed and faced it in silence. That alone showed she wanted to change.
"I..." Lili murmured. Hearing his soft reassurance, she felt as if her deeply scarred soul was finally being healed.
She clenched her fists. The hopelessness she'd felt for so long was finally fading. Now, she had a real choice and a place to belong.
"August, I've decided. I'm going to officially ask to leave my Familia," Lili said, making the biggest decision of her life. She had to get away from that corrupt place.
"As soon as we get back today, I'll take the trial." Her voice was brimming with determination.
"You can do it." August reached out and patted her shoulder. It's hard to dislike soone who's truly trying to change their life for the better.
With new determination, they moved on together, heading down to the seventh floor.
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Floors one through four had Dungeon Goblins and other small beasts. But this ti, things were different from his first dive.
On the sixth floor, they ran into War Shadows. There weren't just one or two—they ca in groups of ten or more.
"I never thought we'd run into Rookie Killers on the sixth floor," Lili said, her voice shaking slightly as she gathered up the Magic Stones from the slaughtered monsters.
Running into them this early was rare. Unless a Level 1 Adventurer had S-Rank stats in everything, they usually couldn't beat a War Shadow. Most rookies stayed far away, leaving the elite vanguard parties to clear them out. But today, there were more of these invisible killers than usual.
"I didn't think they'd be hiding in the corridors either," August admitted. The War Shadows were nearly invisible to the naked eye, blending perfectly into the darkness.
If he didn't have an experienced Supporter like Lili to spot the small clues, he might have been ambushed.
Thermal imaging was useless here. The Labyrinth's walls gave off so much heat that everything looked the sa through a thermal scope. It was impossible to spot a War Shadow hiding against the warm stone.
Any monster branded a 'Rookie Killer' was no joke.
But August's combat shotgun took them out in one shot. In the narrow, dark corridors, the wide spread of buckshot made aiming easy. The blast revealed and destroyed the hidden monsters.
"Logically, the vanguard parties should have cleared out most of these Rookie Killers," Lili noted, puzzled. "Why are there still so many today?"
It was early morning. The major expeditionary forces usually swept the floors clear on their descent. So why were they left untouched?
"Who knows?" August shrugged, recording the encounter data on his tablet and analyzing the environntal scans. "We're entering the eighth floor next."
They went deeper.
The eighth floor was nothing like the wide, open seventh floor. It was a maze of small, connected rooms, each one possibly hiding monsters. The seventh floor was easier to cross, with open spaces and cliffs where Needle Rabbits could hide, so August could attack from far away.
Getting through the eighth floor took more careful planning.
"Flashbang," August called out, tossing a stun grenade into the next room without hesitation.
BANG!
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" A series of agonizing shrieks burst forth as the monsters' senses were entirely overwheld by the blinding light and concussive blast.
August quickly summoned his handguns and fired a sweeping volley. The room, full of eighth-floor Killer Ants, was cleared in seconds.
Lili hurried behind him to collect the Magic Stones. However, she hesitated to pick up the scattered bullet casings by hand in such a tight space.
"Use this to pick up the casings," August said, pulling out a heavy-duty industrial vacuum. "This floor is really dangerous. Don't pick things up by hand. One careless move and you'll get sward."
Killer Ants were weak alone and easy to beat, but unlike the War Shadows, they showed up in big groups. Since picking things up by hand was risky, August used a machine to collect everything.
"Yes!" Lili followed his orders. Powering on the vacuum, she rapidly swept up the loose Magic Stones and the critical brass casings, not missing a single piece.
August stayed alert, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. The tight layout of the eighth floor was dangerous, and the curving paths made it easy to get lost without a good map.
After clearing the imdiate area, they moved quickly down to the ninth floor.
The ninth floor had its own unique ecosystem. Instead of Killer Ants, it was filled with magical butterfly monsters: Purple Moths and Blue Papilio.
August shot them down as soon as he saw them. The Purple Moths had poisonous scales, while the Blue Papilio were rare and dropped valuable loot. Unfortunately, August only encountered the toxic Purple Moths.
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After sweeping the floor and collecting the Magic Stones, they eventually reached the stairwell to the tenth floor.
Floors one through nine seed like a regular underground maze. But everything changed when they reached the tenth floor.
August's vision was blocked from the start. The whole floor was covered in thick, whirling mist.
August waved his hand through the thick fog, trying to figure out where it ca from.
"So this is the tenth floor?" he murmured.
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