Silence fell.
The long corridor, which only moments ago had been filled with the Minotaur’s roars and the clash of weapons, now held nothing but my footsteps and the faint crackle of dying flames.
On the floor remained six enormous Magic Stones, each as big as a fist, along with four adventurers staring at me with dazed expressions.
I retrieved the magic swords floating in the air and walked toward them.
As the blades flew back to my waist and slid into their sheaths with soft clack, clack sounds, one of the party members drew in a sharp breath.
“Are you all right?”
At my question, the male swordsman who seemed to be the party leader finally came to his senses and answered in a fluster.
“Y-Yeah... We’re fine. You saved us. Thank you, really.”
He looked back and forth between his shattered shield and me, still wearing an expression of disbelief.
He probably couldn’t quite accept that the attack from the Minotaur he had been blocking with all his strength had been casually subdued, almost like a dance, by a tiny Pallum like me.
“Thank you for helping us. We’re from the Rigel Familia. This debt of gratitude...”
The female mage beside him tried to offer a polite bow.
“Don’t worry about it. They were in my way anyway.”
Before she could finish, I picked up the Magic Stones and said indifferently.
Each one was far larger than the Upper Floors’ stones, and they gave off a pure, brilliant glow.
I’d heard that Magic Stones from Middle Floors monsters fetched a much higher price.
Just this alone would be a pretty nice haul.
“Still... you should take these Magic Stones. You saved our lives, after all.”
The leader said honestly.
Normally, in a situation like this, most adventurers would either demand a share or shamelessly claim I had stolen their prey, but this party really did have top-tier character by otherworld standards.
“Then I’ll gratefully accept them.”
I didn’t refuse and stuffed even the last Magic Stone into my backpack.
“More importantly, in your current condition, going any deeper would be impossible. Your gear is practically ruined, and it doesn’t look like you have any potions left either. I think you should head back and regroup for now.”
At my words, the party members blushed and nodded.
They were in miserable shape.
Their shield was split apart, and their armor was dented in several places.
The mage looked pale, as if she were on the verge of a Mind Down.
Leaving them behind, I turned my steps once more toward the depths of the labyrinth.
The power of LV2, the efficiency of my Genius ability, and the strength of my newly made magic swords.
Overall, I’d become incomparably stronger than I had been at LV1.
Even after taking on six Minotaurs, I wasn’t even out of breath.
So this was LV2.
It felt like a world away from the days when I had barely scraped by while hunting Infant Dragons on the Upper Floors.
As I muttered to myself and moved through the dark corridor, a wide chamber soon appeared ahead.
And there, I came face-to-face with another monster of the Middle Floors.
Almiraj.
A rabbit-like monster with a small body and a sharp horn.
They looked like herbivores grazing in a herd, but I couldn’t let their cute appearance fool me.
They were still Middle Floors monsters.
“Kihihing!”
The Almiraj herd spotted me and raised their heads in unison, letting out wary cries.
This time, I struck first.
I sent out three magic swords at once.
The lightning sword took the lead, piercing straight through the center of the herd at top speed.
While the monsters jolted from the shock, the frost sword froze the ground around them and shattered their formation completely.
Then, last of all, the fire sword unleashed flames and swept through the confused monsters.
In an instant, the Almiraj herd was wiped out.
“Clean.”
I muttered in satisfaction and gathered the Magic Stones.
Before, I had to focus on dealing with each monster one by one, but now I could combine the different attributes of my three swords to efficiently suppress multiple enemies at once.
Enchantments are seriously amazing.
After hunting for a long while, my backpack grew heavy with Magic Stones, and I leaned against an unbroken rock wall on one side of the corridor to rest for a bit.
The Dungeon doesn’t spawn monsters while damaged areas are in the process of being restored, so securing a safe resting place is basic adventurer know-how.
It felt good, like I was slowly but surely getting closer to my goal...
My goal was simple.
For me and my goddess to live peacefully, without being threatened by anyone.
To gain overwhelming power so that troublesome beings like Freya could never stand before us again.
I was steeling my resolve and about to take one more step into the dark labyrinth when—
Step... step...
Another set of footsteps came from the other side of the corridor.
They weren’t monster footsteps.
They were regular, unwavering, the footsteps of a skilled adventurer.
And the owner of those footsteps appeared before me faster than anyone I had expected.
Blonde hair, golden eyes, a beautiful female swordswoman clad in blue light armor from head to toe.
A slender, long rapier hung at her waist.
The Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein.
When she noticed me, she stopped walking for a moment.
Her golden eyes quietly studied me, and the three magic swords floating around me.
Her gaze held neither surprise nor caution, only pure curiosity.
“...”
“...”
An awkward silence stretched between us.
This was the first time I had come face-to-face with the main heroine of the original story this closely.
I didn’t know what I should say, so I could only stare at her blankly.
Then she spoke first.
“...Strong.”
She murmured in a low voice that carried almost no emotion.
Then, without taking her eyes off me, she asked quietly, “How can I... become that strong?”
I was left speechless for a moment by her completely unexpected question.
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