Acquiring a piece of Tsubaki Collbrande's work for the price of 85,000 Valis, even if it was a failure.
Roy felt like laughing.
The material cost alone for this armor far exceeded 80,000 Valis. This was quasi-High-Grade equipment, superior in quality to his Muramasa, which was estimated to be worth over 500,000 Valis.
The people who frequented this shop were typically novice LV.1 adventurers and newly promoted LV.2 adventurers.
How could the manager have predicted that the LV.4 Ryuu would show up and recognize Tsubaki Collbrande's work?
To prevent the matter from being exposed, the manager had no choice but to sell the armor to them at a rock-bottom price.
Roy put the armor on, using the straps to wrap around his back and tie a knot, fitting the armor over his chest.
The weight of eight or nine pounds was nothing to Roy. The missing corner was also not an issue. If he had bought it for millions of Valis, Roy might complain, but having scored it for 80,000 Valis, even if it shattered, Roy would praise it for shattering well!
With the armor sorted, the two entered the Dungeon. Their most important task today was to make money.
An LV.4 and an LV.2. The upper floors posed almost no difficulty for them.
The War Shadow and Killer Ant were known as "Rookie Killers" on the upper floors. They had caused Roy significant trouble during the War Game, but now Roy sliced them dead with a single, clean strike.
Ryuu was even more efficient, flashing past like a gust of wind. The surrounding monsters instantly turned to dust, and fragments of Magic Stones rained down.
She even dared to charge directly into swarms of Killer Ants, single-handedly sweeping aside hundreds of monsters.
Roy also needed to train his combat ability and adapt to his LV.2 strength. He had no interest in being a supporter. He activated his Magic, materializing his thunder into a thunder avatar, which followed behind to pick up the dropped Magic Stones.
Ryuu, upon seeing this, marveled inwardly.
She had followed Roy when he went into the Dungeon to test his Magic and had witnessed the spell.
She had seen many types of clone Magic, but this was the first time she had encountered a clone that could be maintained for a long time, possessed significant combat ability, and acted freely.
It was essentially another limb of oneself.
It had to be admitted that having such a clone was extremely convenient for Dungeon exploration. It could be sent ahead to scout unknown areas, and it could also act as a supporter, greatly improving their money-making efficiency.
The two quickly reached the tenth floor.
The floor where the War Game against the Rudra Familia took place. All traces of the battle were gone. The bodies had been consumed by monsters. This was the Dungeon: no matter what destruction was wrought, it would eventually return to its original state.
Ryuu said, "Let's rest for a moment."
She was fine, but the key was Roy. The eleventh floor was unexplored territory for him, and they couldn't afford a single moment of carelessness. They needed to keep their physical and mental states optimal.
The two rested beneath a dead tree, far from the walls so they wouldn't be ambushed by suddenly appearing monsters.
Ryuu asked, "How is the Magic consumption?"
Roy was not surprised. He replied,
"Summoning it requires 10% of my mental power. After that, controlling it consumes 2% of my mental power per minute."
There was one thing Roy didn't mention: if he drank a low-level Mind Potion, the subsequent control of the clone would be virtually cost-free.
But even this was enough to surprise Ryuu, as Roy was still only LV.2. The true terror of this Magic would only reveal itself when he reached higher levels.
The new member of their Familia was indeed terrifying.
Twenty minutes later, the rest period was over.
The two entered the eleventh floor. The environment was not significantly different from the tenth floor—it was also a spacious cavern.
The monsters on this floor were similar to the tenth, the only wild card being the Rare Species, the "Baby Dragon."
In this world, Dragons are the strongest monsters, bar none. Any monster tainted with the "Dragon Species" lineage sees its difficulty level skyrocket.
The "Baby Dragon" is a rare monster species found primarily on the eleventh and twelfth floors, scarce in overall number. It can easily wipe out a party of low-level adventurers.
Since the upper floors lack a Floor Boss, the "Baby Dragon" is effectively the floor boss.
As if summoning it with thought,
A startled cry came from ahead. Seven or eight LV.1 adventurers fled desperately.
A four-legged monster, lacking wings, appeared around the corner. Its entire body was covered in hard, gray scales that gleamed like steel. Its tough physique clearly suggested a potential far exceeding that of an Orc.
The strongest monster of the upper floors—the Baby Dragon!
"Wait, let me handle this!"
Seeing Ryuu about to step forward and instantly kill the creature, Roy quickly stopped her. Rare species were hard to come by, and he wanted to conduct an experiment with this Baby Dragon.
"The Baby Dragon's Magic Stone is in the center of its chest," Ryuu said, finally stopping to cover Roy.
"Got it."
Roy stepped forward, moving against the flow of the fleeing adventurers, instantly drawing the Baby Dragon's attention.
The Baby Dragon's blood-red eyes rotated constantly. It charged directly at Roy. Its size was larger than an adult man, and its presence was intimidating.
Roy instantly judged that its Ability Scores had reached the LV.2 all-H rank range.
However, his own Ability Scores were superior.
Roy moved his feet lightly, flashing aside to dodge the Baby Dragon's charge. While dodging, he swung the Muramasa, slicing across the creature's body.
The sword edge scraped the Baby Dragon's scales, sending sparks flying. Only a shallow scratch was left on the gray scales.
Roy's chest was also grazed by the scales, leaving a mark on his armor. If he hadn't been wearing the chest plate today, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Scales as hard as iron, combined with LV.2 stats—it was a slaughter for new adventurers on the upper floors.
Roy realized the Muramasa couldn't break the opponent's scales. The advantage of his equipment was minimal.
Roar!
The Baby Dragon spun around, opening its cavernous mouth, its sharp dragon teeth glinting coldly as it lunged to bite Roy.
Roy wasn't intimidated. He channeled his Magic Power, and a basketball-sized sphere of lightning, covered in fine currents, materialized in his palm. He threw it directly.
The lightning sphere entered the Baby Dragon's mouth and detonated with a crash.
Boom!
The Baby Dragon's mouth was blasted bloody, its teeth shattered, and half its head was gone. Its body recoiled.
Roy seized the chance and charged forward, his muscles tensed. He channeled his strength into the Muramasa and plunged it forward fiercely. The blade pierced the Baby Dragon's chest.
Sinking through a gap in the scales, the blade seemed to strike a hard object. A shattering sound rang out.
Bang!
The Magic Stone was struck. The Baby Dragon seemed to instantly lose all power, freezing in place. Its body dissipated into dust, leaving a Magic Stone the size of a baby's fist and a gray Dragon Scale on the ground.
[Congratulations on slaying "Baby Dragon," you have received 85 Status Points, and dropped material "Gray Steel Dragon Scale"!]