Floor 19, the Great Tree Labyrinth.
Walls, ceiling, and floor were all formed of bark, as if he'd stepped inside a colossal ancient tree. In place of phosphorescence, moss that gave off a faint blue glow grew untamed and lush across every corner of the labyrinth.
As Leon pushed deeper, oddly shaped leaves in dazzling colors, enormous fungi, and strange flowers dripping silvery droplets from their petals appeared everywhere along the path.
From his work with the Demeter Familia, he recognized them all as abundant plants impossible to find on the surface.
Even more remarkable, every chamber in the Great Tree Labyrinth had its own distinct scenery rather than the monotonous cave views of earlier floors. Some rooms even resembled carefully cultivated gardens.
Compared to the floors before, the variety of monsters here was wildly diverse. The Great Tree Labyrinth felt like a living forest, boasting a complete ecosystem that matched, maybe even surpassed, the forests above ground.
Of course, every "inhabitant" of this unique ecosystem was a monster with a Magic Stone embedded in its body.
Ordinary beasts stood no chance here. Even powerful predators wouldn't survive a moment against the fangs and claws of this place.
"This Great Tree Labyrinth area, starting from Floor 19..."
Leon spread out his parchment map and carefully compared it against the terrain, murmuring to himself:
"The Basic Abilities required are top-tier even for Lv. 2."
"But that's still not enough."
His sharp gaze swept the dim blue surroundings.
"Here, even an Adventurer of the matching level is just asking to die if they solo it. A reliable party is the only way to move through this place safely."
He closed the map, expression calm.
"If there are too many monsters, even I can't handle it."
After carefully weighing his own combat power against his expected grinding pace, Leon saw his weaknesses clearly.
For example:
The explosion from Fireball could deal small-area AOE damage, but at its core, it was still a single-target spell.
Compared with proper AOE magic, it fell far short in both coverage and sustained killing power. Spells like Blizzard, Flame Storm, or Frozen Orb were on a whole different level.
And the wide-area annihilation magic used as a finisher? Not even worth comparing.
So, with his mob-clearing efficiency clearly bottlenecked, Leon stayed on high alert at all times.
Even when facing a swarm, he would calmly and accurately gauge its size. The instant the monster count exceeded what he could wipe out quickly, he wouldn't hesitate to pull back and run.
Face? What was that?
In a life-or-death Dungeon, that kind of vanity meant nothing. For him, nothing mattered more than making it out alive.
...
An hour later.
Leon shook out his slightly sore arms and studied the thick jungle around him.
"The monster count and respawn rate here are kind of terrifying, mate."
Grumbling, he pushed aside a bush and looked ahead.
"Huh? White leaves? Holy shit, that's a ton..."
Staring at the pile of white leaves heaped like a small mountain in the brush ahead, Leon's eyes lit up. He was practically giddy.
"The Great Tree Labyrinth lives up to the hype! Its native recovery materials are worth a fortune more than those junk ores from the Cave Labyrinth!"
He scanned left and right warily, and once he confirmed no "guardian" was lurking nearby, he bolted forward.
Half-crouched on the ground, hands and feet moving like he was scooping up gold, he stuffed the precious white leaves into his pack.
"Tsk, tsk, this pile has to be worth at least 500,000 Valis. Damn... the Great Tree Labyrinth is basically handing out money by the sack!"
He muttered excitedly as he packed.
Half a minute later.
Leon patted his bulging pack with satisfaction, grinning ear to ear.
"Bzzzzzz!"
A sharp, piercing buzz laced with killing intent tore in from the distance.
"Oh, the guardians showed up?"
Leon's smile vanished instantly. He dropped into a combat stance.
Magic light swirled in his eyes, trailing threads of glow at the corners. In his lowered palm, searing sparks crackled, ready to fire.
He didn't have to wait long. The "guardians" revealed themselves.
"These are..."
He searched his "Memory Palace" at speed and quickly pulled up the relevant entry.
"Deadly Hornet, also known as the Upper Killer. The upgraded version of the Killer Ant, which is a Rookie Killer. Translated, that makes it the Upper Adventurer Killer."
"Another swarm type. High attack power, high movement speed, and they inflict a nasty poison status."
"Tsk, tricky."
The gravity only lasted a heartbeat. The smile returning to Leon's face was even cockier than before:
"Good thing I specialize in fire magic."
He licked his slightly dry lips, war-fire blazing in his eyes:
"In a jungle terrain like the Great Tree Labyrinth, fire magic is king."
Before the words even finished, a crimson magic circle flared to life at his feet.
"Fireball!"
Wait for the monsters to strike first? Leon had no interest in fair play.
The truth he lived by was simple:
Strike first and win. Strike second and suffer.
Didn't matter what kind of freak it was. Eat a wagon-wheel-sized Fireball first. Anything else? Talk to him after you crawled out of the blast.
"Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!"
Three crimson circles flared open in quick succession. Pillars of flame roared skyward, each detonation cracking the air like a thunderclap.
In an instant, the vast woodland caught fire.
Surging walls of flame devoured branches and leaves, painting half the chamber red.
"Hm?"
Leon's eyes sharpened.
Out of the wall of fire, dark shapes tore straight through the flames, their shrill "Bzzzzzz!" hammering his ears as they lunged at him like loosed arrows. So fast they dragged afterimages behind them.
"Damn!"
His pupils contracted. Leon kicked off the ground and shot backward in a flash.
"Frost Armor!"
Crack crack crack!
The ice plating locked into place, and he felt a little safer.
"Haah!"
Facing the swarm's dense charge, not a trace of panic showed in his eyes.
He drew a deep breath, lowered his stance, and retreated fast while hurling Fireballs sideways.
Boom!
Boom boom!
Boom boom boom!
Through the dense woods tangled with flame and smoke, Leon moved like a wraith, weaving and dodging as he played a lethal game of cat and mouse with the deadly hornet swarm.
He tracked the monsters' movements, scanned his surroundings, and watched his footing, all at once.
At first, against this unfamiliar combat pattern and intensity, his detail work and overall motion looked a little stiff, a little rusty.
But as the fight wore on, he started to find his rhythm.
"That's the beat."
Tossing another Fireball, Leon hopped lightly backward, opening distance, and a smile of total control curled at the corner of his mouth.
Once he locked in the offensive rhythm that felt best, his previously stiff combat movements flowed smoother and smoother.
Run, pivot, throw, jump back.
Over and over.
His form truly was graceful as a startled swan, supple as a dancing dragon.
Boom boom boom!
As his kiting tactic took hold, deadly hornet corpses rained down in drifts. And that was only a fraction.
The rest, the moment a Fireball caught them, were vaporized outright.
"Fireball!"
Boom!
The last hornet closing in was reduced to ash in a blaze of light.
The firelight lit up the face under Leon's hood. He stood alone before the sea of flame, his smile cold.
"Didn't even need the ice ring. Looks like I can push the intensity up a notch?"
"Heh."
He closed the flames dancing in his palm, gaze sweeping over the Magic Stones glinting across the ground.
"Stones first."
But the moment he started cleaning up, a string of screams ripped through the "sky."
"Aaaaaaahhhh!"
The hand pinching a Magic Stone froze mid-air.
Next instant, his head snapped toward the source of the screams.
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
A tremor ran up from the soles of his boots, traveling through his entire body.
Beneath the hood, Leon's expression turned grim, flickering with uncertainty.
"Shit!"
...
...
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