Lefiya's magic was undeniably powerful.
And as a Level 3 adventurer, by no means was she weak in Orario.
Her biggest issue lay in her nerves—when swarmed by monsters, she tended to panic.
If she could overcome that, Lefiya would become truly formidable.
Now that she had mastered shortened incantations, even though she still sometimes stumbled over her words when chanting under pressure, she could at least finish the abridged spells before her nerves got the better of her.
For Lefiya, that was already a step forward in tackling her anxiety.
If, through faster casting, she could grow accustomed to fighting large groups of monsters in the Dungeon and slowly build up her courage, that would be the ideal outcome.
Right now, Lefiya was breathing a little heavily.
Staring at the sea of flames she had created, her cute face lit up with excitement. She turned to Ais and Alice, cheering.
"Miss Ais! I did it! I really did it!"
"Alice! I made it happen!"
Successfully casting her magic in the Dungeon, surrounded by monsters, filled Lefiya with pure joy.
Seeing her so happy, both Alice and Ais broke into smiles.
Lefiya jogged back to where they stood.
Alice reached out and gently smoothed Lefiya's slightly messy hair, tousled from her run. With a soft laugh, she said, "Lefiya, there's still room to improve. That chant was still too long. Try to shorten it to just one sentence—or even one word. If you can cast magic that efficiently, you'll become even stronger."
A warm feeling spread through Lefiya.
Alice's hand didn't quite touch her cheek, but that near-contact somehow flustered her even more.
Her heart beat faster.
'Alice is so cute…'
In Lefiya's eyes, Alice looked incredibly gentle as she tidied her hair. Watching Alice's smiling face, Lefiya's own cheeks flushed pink. She unconsciously took a half-step back.
'No, no, no! My heart belongs to Miss Ais!'
"One word or one sentence—right! I'll work hard!" Lefiya shook her head, then looked seriously at Alice, her voice brimming with determination.
"...Hmm?" Alice found Lefiya's reaction a bit odd, but on closer look, nothing seemed particularly off.
She smiled. "If you're ready, let's keep moving deeper. The monster density on this floor is still a bit too low."
"Huh?" Lefiya's expression froze. "Um, wouldn't this floor be fine? Why go deeper? And there are plenty of grouped monsters on the upper floors too, like Killer Ants—they show up in swarms."
Even though she'd just succeeded in casting her spell, the thought of facing hordes of monsters still made her nervous.
"Alice, look, isn't it better to take things step by step? Why don't we head back up to the upper floors to get used to things first, before going deeper?"
Lefiya nervously offered her suggestion.
But Alice saw right through her.
With a playful smile, she reached out, grabbed Lefiya by the scruff of her neck, and started pulling her forward by her collar.
"Eh? Ehh?! Alice! No, don't!!" Being dragged like this, Lefiya knew exactly what was coming.
Riveria often did the same thing—hauling her off to face things she'd rather avoid.
"Miss Ais, let's head to the lower floors," Alice said, turning toward Ais.
"..." Ais watched Lefiya, her expression shifting subtly. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, just nodded quietly and followed Alice.
--+--
16th Floor.
Just one floor below was the room of the 17th-floor boss.
On the 16th floor, monsters didn't spawn particularly fast or in great numbers, but each one was considerably powerful.
A Level 1 adventurer would struggle to even reach this floor, and even Level 2 adventurers would find it extremely dangerous.
Only Level 3 and above could pass through safely.
The monsters here were Minotaurs.
They resembled the Minotaurs found around the 20th floor, but these were likely inferior variants—still strong, but not nearly as fearsome as their deeper-floor cousins.
Their arm strength was much weaker, and their hide offered far less protection.
Even so, they were still tough opponents for Level 1 adventurers. And like their stronger relatives, they moved in groups—encounter one, and you'd soon face a whole pack.
For Lefiya, however, the monsters of the 16th floor made for excellent training. And for Alice, this floor was also a pretty good spot.
"Hourai, provide supporting fire with your magic bullets."
"Shanghai, you focus on protecting me."
Alice only had Shanghai and Hourai with her now; the rest of her dolls were left at home to protect Lili.
At this point, Shanghai and Hourai weren't really there to guard Alice.
Instead, Alice had decided to put what she'd learned from books into practice.
For example, she was now holding a longsword.
Facing three or four Minotaurs ahead, Alice remained calm. Gripping the sword tightly, she charged forward.
In Ais's eyes, Alice's form was clearly inexperienced.
From her posture alone, Ais could tell this was likely Alice's first time fighting with a sword.
But…
Based on her years of experience, Ais knew Alice didn't have the strength to take down several Minotaurs with that blade.
Alice's wrist strength was low, and her speed was lacking.
The sword in her hands, in Ais's judgment, was also of poor quality—utterly insufficient to pierce the thick hides of the Minotaurs.
Even if Ais were using it, she'd need to enchant it with her skills to cut through their skin.
And before that could happen, the sword would probably shatter.
Yet now, something strange unfolded before Ais's eyes.
Alice gripped the sword with both hands, jogged steadily up to a Minotaur, swung with all her might—and cleanly sliced the monster in half.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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