After all, this was still a floor boss in the upper levels, so Liang Yue had some expectations for it—at the very least, it should be tough and able to take a beating.
If it was like other monsters, where the blade aura from his Ghost Swordsmanship could easily deal with it, then it wouldn't be enough to properly test the magic War Enthusiasm.
"Alright… let's give it a try."
The magic didn't require any prior chanting, which was convenient for Liang Yue. Without hesitation, he took out another ordinary second-class weapon he had been carrying.
He activated the effect of War Enthusiasm.
It didn't bring any physical enhancement, but he could feel a slight drain on his mental power—a very subtle sensation.
It depended on one's mental resilience.
The ability values he had built up from past training had become the foundation of his body—strength and agility had greatly increased. As power gathered in his legs, he took action before the young dragon could ready its attack.
With explosive speed, Liang Yue charged straight at the monster. The young dragon's massive size and thick hide came at the cost of agility.
Not to mention, his level had already broken through to Lv2!
"Too slow."
Naturally, he was referring to the monster. He quickly devised a plan—the first step was to limit its movements. He swung the blade in his grip toward the young dragon's foreclaw.
The slash released a burst of sword aura, and when it struck the tough scales on the young dragon's leg, it didn't slice the limb off as expected.
Instead, it only tore open the scales' defense, fresh blood oozing from the jagged wound.
"Hmm?"
"…"
Suddenly struck with pain, the young dragon, acting purely on instinct, lifted its claw and stomped toward Liang Yue.
For an ordinary adventurer, finding a way to counter this in such a short time would be difficult.
But when it came to speed, the monster's attack was sluggish. As he hopped backward to dodge, another slash of sword aura, imbued with flowing light, accompanied the movement.
Without even using the Extreme Weapon Breaker, and only relying on the combined boosts from Flowing Heart and War Enthusiasm, the result still exceeded Liang Yue's expectations!
The slash, wrapped in radiant light, tore open the dragon's hard belly scales, leaving a gruesome wound with exposed flesh.
Whish!
The pain didn't make the young dragon retreat—instead, its crimson eyes blazed with unprecedented fury.
Its massive body stomped down on the dry ground, sending faint tremors through the earth.
Its long tail, lined with sharp, protruding scales, lashed sideways toward Liang Yue with incredible speed, raising a cloud of dust in its wake.
It sought to crush the adventurer before it with sheer brute force!
But such desperate resistance was useless against absolute speed. Sensing the wind-up before the attack, Liang Yue slid forward without hesitation.
His nimble form slipped right through the gap in the young dragon's assault.
What followed was a rapid flurry of dual-blade strikes—since every attack carried the bonus from War Enthusiasm…
"Doesn't this mean… the faster my attack speed, the faster I shred it?"
Using his speed advantage, more and more wounds appeared across the young dragon's body. While none were fatal, they gradually slowed its movements.
The monster's attack power increased continuously, allowing his sword aura to progress from merely breaking its defenses to now carving deep, bone-reaching strikes into its body.
"That should do it."
"I feel like this War Enthusiasm magic will be really effective against floor bosses!" Liang Yue decided not to keep using the monster as a training dummy.
The young dragon before him had long since reached its limit, collapsing heavily to the ground.
Its neck was the only part still moving. The beast struggled to bite down on the human before it—especially as Liang Yue drew closer.
But all it received was a casual slash in return.
With his attacks fully amplified, the sword aura wrapped in radiant light cleanly severed the young dragon's neck, ending the life of the massive creature.
Its body dissolved into gray dust, leaving only its drop item to crash heavily to the ground.
[Exp +1701]
"Not a bad amount of experience."
Finishing this test battle, Liang Yue could feel that his stamina consumption had decreased, and the drain on his mental power hadn't caused any real strain on his body.
Perhaps the intensity still wasn't enough—that was exactly the result he wanted.
By continuously using magic at high intensity, he could raise his weaker magic stat. Collecting the magic stone from the slain young dragon, he set his next goal.
Since the floor had collapsed, dropping him right onto the young dragon, he had saved himself the trouble of getting here.
He didn't bother making any victory declaration—if the Dungeon went crazy again and he fell straight into the middle-level floor boss Goliath's den…
Forget winning—just surviving that fall would be a miracle!
"Let's keep grinding."
Without wasting time, Liang Yue kept War Enthusiasm active the whole way, using the monsters in the deepest part of the upper levels for high-intensity training.
Cheap Apartment.
While the conditions were only slightly better than those of the Hestia Familia, the black-haired, horned, obviously Eastern-featured god Takemikazuchi was gathered with his children.
He hesitated for a moment but still relayed the familia expedition support schedule he had discussed with Hestia the night before.
The commission reward was 3 million valis.
Even if most of the money was sent back to his shrine in the Far East, there would still be enough left over to improve their living conditions. Looking toward his tall, well-built familia captain, he said:
"Kashima, I've called you all here because there's something I need to tell you."
"Lord Takemikazuchi, if there's anything, just tell us directly." The short-haired, tan-skinned Kashima Sakura waved his hand.
For the god who had raised him, he held the utmost respect.
"Mm."
"For the next two days, you don't need to explore the Dungeon. Rest well—someone has asked me for help during a familia expedition."
"I agreed. They're willing to pay 3 million valis."
He gave a brief explanation of last night's discussion—since the final destination was the deepest part of the middle floors, Takemikazuchi had agreed without hesitation.
The Hestia Familia only had two members.
Aside from one supporter with no combat capability, the other was a Lv2 adventurer. As long as nothing unexpected happened, this commission was basically free money!
Kashima had the qualities of a leader—his calm personality being one of them. But upon hearing that the commission involved a familia expedition, his expression stiffened slightly.
"So the destination is just a New World expedition?"
"The reward is indeed generous, but… why would a familia with only two members take this on? Is this a Guild requirement?"
"I didn't ask for the details, but the payment has already been made in advance."
Takemikazuchi's relationship with Hestia was indeed good, and he did have his doubts—but since Hephaestus had vouched for it, he hadn't pressed the matter.
He let out a faint sigh before adding, "At the very least, the shrine's financial problems can be eased for a while."
"Understood."
It wasn't just the god's burden—coming to Orario as an adventurer was also about earning a living for the younger siblings back at the shrine.
Kashima nodded seriously before asking, "The day after tomorrow, right? Should we meet the other familia members beforehand?"
"Yes, we'll have dinner together the night before departure."