Click—
When Cao Ye pushed the door open, as expected, Ottar was still standing guard outside.
Suddenly Cao Ye felt a bit awkward.
Had Ottar heard everything he said to Freya just now?
For a moment, Cao Ye felt slightly embarrassed.
But Ottar completely ignored him from beginning to end.
To him, only Freya's orders mattered. Nothing else would ever move him.
Returning to the room next door, Cao Ye collapsed face-first onto the bed.
Although Freya's teasing had left him feeling frustrated and restless, tonight's "harvest" was undeniably huge.
If nothing else, just personally helping Freya put on black stockings and touching them had already made the whole night worth it.
Thinking about it, Cao Ye slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The Next Morning
The next morning, Cao Ye woke from his sleep.
The first thing he did was open his task panel.
This had already become a habit.
The moment he woke up, he would first confirm the objective for the day.
Daily Mission: Explore the Dungeon and reach the 12th Floor
Reward: 10 Diamonds
"So the twelfth floor is my target for the next few days…"
Cao Ye nodded and memorized the task.
After stretching, he glanced out the window.
The sky was clear.
It would probably be another nice day.
After washing up and putting on clean clothes, he was ready.
Bang—
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Ottar still standing guard outside Freya's door.
Did this guy really stay there the whole night?
Truly Freya's most loyal guard.
Even though he was the strongest adventurer in Orario, he acted more like a servant.
After yesterday's interaction, Cao Ye had already understood Ottar's personality.
Unless it involved Freya, he wouldn't respond to anything.
Even if someone greeted him, he would simply ignore it.
Since that was the case, Cao Ye didn't bother wasting his time.
He headed straight toward the Dungeon.
Orario – The Labyrinth City
As the center of the world, the city built atop the Dungeon was one of the most prosperous places imaginable.
Using the magic stones dropped by monsters, Orario had developed a unique technological system.
In Orario, magic stones functioned like electricity in the modern world.
They powered almost every aspect of daily life.
For example:
Elevators in Babel Tower, powered by magic stonesMagic stone lamps spread throughout the city like electric lights
Cao Ye took the elevator down to the first floor and headed straight toward the Dungeon entrance.
Living in Babel Tower had one huge advantage.
Entering the Dungeon was extremely convenient.
Just step outside, take the elevator down, and the entrance was right there.
Morning was the busiest time for adventurers.
A huge crowd poured into the Dungeon.
Humans, elves, dwarves, beastmen—all kinds of races gathered together.
Everyone wore armor and carried different weapons.
Compared to them, Cao Ye looked extremely out of place.
He wore only simple clothes and carried no weapon at all.
He looked like a sheep among wolves.
Soon he passed through the spiral staircase and entered the Dungeon once again.
Battle
"Yaa—yaa—!"
As always, the Dungeon enthusiastically welcomed adventurers.
The moment he entered, several goblins rushed toward him while waving wooden clubs.
"Sigh…"
Cao Ye sighed helplessly.
But the laziness in his eyes disappeared instantly.
"Projection… start."
Flash—
Magic gathered in his hand.
A sharp one-handed sword slowly formed in the air and finally solidified.
It was a high-quality weapon he had memorized yesterday in a weapon shop.
Of course, he wasn't Shirou Emiya.
Without Unlimited Blade Works, he could only project two or three weapons at most.
Magical swords were far beyond his ability to analyze.
Shirou could replicate Noble Phantasms.
Meanwhile Cao Ye couldn't even record a single magic sword.
The gap was enormous.
By this time, two goblins had already rushed toward him.
Over the past half month, goblins were the monsters Cao Ye had fought the most.
With his current strength, dealing with them was effortless.
Slash—
Whoosh—
In a flash, his sword pierced through both goblins' chests.
Their bodies collapsed and quickly turned into ash.
Only two small magic stones remained on the ground.
Looking at them, Cao Ye suddenly thought of something.
If this world had Imaginary Space, could he store the magic stones inside it?
Rip—
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the air.
The two magic stones were instantly sucked inside.
Cao Ye froze.
He expected his magic power to drain heavily.
But surprisingly, almost no magic power was consumed.
At the same time, he faintly sensed a strange space he could control.
"What's going on…?"
"Just like last night… the item got swallowed?"
Thud.
Instinctively, Cao Ye tried to retrieve the magic stones.
Another crack suddenly appeared.
The two magic stones fell back out.
And along with them—
A teacup dropped out as well.
Cao Ye was stunned.
This was the same teacup he had accidentally thrown into the crack last night.
Back then it had consumed a huge amount of magic power.
But now it had returned.
Even more surprising—
There was still warm water inside the cup.
Yes.
Warm water.
The bottom of the cup still held heat.
"…Wait."
"That thing just now…"
"Could it actually be Imaginary Space?"
The moment that thought appeared in Cao Ye's mind, it began expanding uncontrollably.