Whoosh—!
The unicorn rabbit looked harmless, but its crimson eyes sent chills down one's spine.
Immediately after, two of them, like well-trained soldiers, raised their stone axes in unison and swung them forcefully toward the trio.
"I'll leave the back to you!"
Eiji didn't have time to deal with the hellhound behind him. He immediately stepped forward, lowering his stance, and charged toward the unicorn rabbits.
Clang!
A dazzling blade light flashed out, accurately hitting the first stone axe. As the blade trembled, it drew a beautiful arc, sending the struck axe flying toward the second one.
With a loud "clang," the two stone axes collided and were sent flying in opposite directions.
The third unicorn rabbit, gripping its stone axe, charged forward. With agility far surpassing that of the silverback ape, it closed the distance to Eiji in just two seconds, engaging him in close combat.
Thud!
At the moment of contact, Eiji drew the sword hidden behind his back with his left hand and thrust it forward. With his longer reach, he managed to stab the unicorn rabbit's chest before its stone axe could strike.
Thump!
Immediately after, he lifted the unicorn rabbit's body and swung it forward, smashing the two axe-less rabbits to the ground. Then, with a single slash each, he finished them off.
After dealing with all three unicorn rabbits, Eiji finally turned to look behind him.
But it seemed his help wasn't needed there.
Two consecutive flaming arrows shot out like fiery cannonballs, hitting the hellhound head-on and instantly reducing its body to charred remains. The power of the arrows far surpassed the hellhound's fireball attacks.
Seeing the crisis averted, Lefiya finally lowered her wand and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Being attacked from both front and back was the most dangerous situation one could encounter on the 13th floor.
If Eiji had entered alone, it would have been difficult to break through such an encirclement. But with the three of them working together, it seemed they could easily sweep through the 13th floor.
'I wonder how far we can go with this team,' Eiji thought to himself.
In the dungeon, the deeper you went, the more training you could gain. Pushing yourself to your limits was the fastest way to grow stronger.
The terrain of the 13th floor consisted of one rocky passage after another.
And at the nodes of these passages were the rock chambers scattered throughout the floor.
"Here."
Inside one of the rock chambers, the trio sat on the ground.
Line took out three lunch boxes from her backpack and handed one each to Eiji and Lefiya.
"Thank you, Line. Did you make these yourself?"
"Yes, I didn't know your preferences, so I just made something simple."
"Just the thought is enough to be grateful for!"
"The taste is great."
Receiving Eiji's praise, Line blushed slightly.
In Eiji's eyes, as long as it wasn't a mushy, porridge-like mess, it could be considered delicious.
"But why did we have to break the wall of the rock chamber before eating?"
Eiji asked while devouring his food, glancing at the corner of the chamber.
The rock chamber was quite spacious, with a length and width of over seven to eight meters and a ceiling height of nearly three meters—much roomier than the passages. The dark cave entrances at both ends served as the passage's entry and exit points.
Faint phosphorescent light dotted the walls and ceiling, providing minimal illumination, making the chamber only slightly brighter than nighttime.
There were dozens of such rock chambers on the 13th floor. Due to their relatively large space, they were ideal for brief respites, allowing adventurers to rest and maneuver easily.
In one corner of the chamber, a half-person-high dent had been carved into the wall, with a pile of rubble scattered on the ground.
"You didn't know?"
"Know what?"
"The dungeon can repair itself."
Line looked at Eiji with surprise, but realizing he was new to Orario, she quickly understood and began to explain in detail.
"The dungeon is alive. If you think of the entire dungeon as a living being, its floors and terrain are like its organs. And organs don't change shape. Even if the walls are damaged, the dungeon will automatically repair itself."
This was knowledge Eiji hadn't known, and it wasn't mentioned in the guidebooks either, so he listened with great interest.
The dungeon spawned monsters. Creatures like the silverback apes and hellhounds they had encountered were all born from the dungeon's walls and ceilings. The dungeon itself was a nest of monsters, acting as their mother.
When they had first entered the rock chamber, they had seen monsters emerging from the walls multiple times.
Now, the group sat in the center of the chamber, avoiding leaning against the walls, as monsters could jump out from them at any moment.
However, compared to spawning monsters, the dungeon prioritized repairing itself.
In other words, when damaged, the dungeon would temporarily halt the monster spawning to focus on repairing itself. During this time, the rate of monster appearances would significantly decrease.
"I see!"
Eiji suddenly understood.
"So, when the dungeon's body is damaged, it prioritizes repairing itself, and the surrounding area of this rock chamber won't spawn new monsters for a while!"
Adventurers would take advantage of this brief window to eat, rest, or tend to their wounds, giving them a moment to catch their breath.
"Exactly."
Line smiled and nodded in confirmation.
Eiji kept nodding as well.
Having an experienced veteran on the team really made a difference!
In comparison—
Eiji glanced to his right.
The golden-haired elf girl seemed to be starving, happily devouring her lunch box. Noticing Eiji's gaze, she looked at him with a puzzled expression, a few grains of rice stuck to the corner of her mouth.
You're the Level 3, hey.
"By the way, you came to the dungeon to train a technique called 'parallel chanting,' right?"
Eiji suddenly remembered the main reason and asked Lefiya, "What kind of technique is that?"
Since it was something Riveria had requested, he figured he should contribute as well, as a way to repay Lefiya for teaming up with him.
"...Oh right, I'm here to practice parallel chanting!"
Lefiya put down her lunch box, paused for a moment, and then suddenly realized.
Eiji: "..."
"Simply put, parallel chanting is a technique that allows you to perform other actions while chanting."
Line, who was also a mage capable of healing magic, couldn't help but chuckle before explaining.
She then reached out and used a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe the rice grains off Lefiya's mouth, causing the elf girl to blush.
When mages use magic, they need to concentrate deeply to control the mana within their bodies, weaving it into spells through chanting.
During this process, any distraction could cause the spell to fail or even lead to a mana misfire, harming the caster. As a result, mages are usually unable to move while chanting.
***
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