Zephyr stopped at the corner of the passage, catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Lefiya falling behind, and the Crab Pig that was within arm's reach.
Dragon Roar!
The monster's six charging legs froze on the spot. Its massive body remained frozen in the center of the passage in a forward-leaning posture, but due to the inertia of its weight, it still slid forward.
"Lefiya! Run faster!"
After Lefiya put some distance between herself and the monster, her speed remained at the same level as before, with no significant improvement.
She panted heavily. "I... my talent is just a little bit better in terms of magic."
"?!"
That meant all her other stats were quite lackluster!
Zephyr's lips couldn't help but twitch.
In a certain anime, the Shield Girl poured all her stat points into defense because she was afraid of pain, which is why she could withstand all the monsters' attacks.
Could it be that Lefiya was afraid her magic damage wouldn't be high enough, so she poured all her talent into her magic stat?
He glanced toward the back out of the corner of his eye. The stiffness in the Crab Pig's body was fading rapidly, the stun effect was about to wear off. At most, it would last another two seconds.
He gritted his teeth and turned back, sprinting toward where Lefiya was.
"Sorry! Emergency situation!"
"Eh?"
Before Lefiya could react, she felt a grip around her waist as Zephyr's right arm swept across her side. He hoisted Lefiya horizontally onto his shoulder. Rather than a hug, it was more like the posture of carrying cargo. There was no hint of ambiguity, it was purely a pragmatic action to whisk his teammate away as quickly as possible.
Lefiya's mind went completely blank. Her hair hung messily down Zephyr's back, and she scrambled with her hands, pressing against the fabric in front to try and maintain her balance.
Behind them, the roar of the Crab Pig breaking free from the restraint came once again.
Thud!
The frequency of the ground's tremors became even more intense.
Zephyr adjusted Lefiya's position on his shoulder, trying to make her as comfortable as possible, but he didn't stop running, moving forward at full speed.
How the hell could they not run?
— — —
Central Plaza.
After high-intensity, rapid running, it wasn't until the moment he breathed the fresh air on the surface that Charles, who was in the lead, finally stopped.
He slumped onto the ground, his chest heavinf violently. As he looked up at the sky above, his face was filled with the bitterness of having barely survived.
"Oh man... I remember when we explored before, the Dungeon didn't look like this."
Fatigue was inevitable, but compared to Charles, Zephyr felt his own condition was still fine. He set Lefiya down on the ground slowly.
After he turned around to confirm that everyone had all returned safely, the tight string in his heart finally slowly relaxed.
However, when he noticed Kate's extremely subtle gaze, he suddenly realized that such an action was too rash toward a member of the opposite sex.
Lefiya had just been carried on his shoulder as he sprinted all the way back to the surface. She stood there with flushed cheeks, her hair still a bit messy.
"Ahem... the situation was special."
Zephyr felt it was necessary to explain. "The Crab Pig was about to catch up to Lefiya at the time. Tthere was really no other way, so I had to do that."
"Mm." Lefiya lowered her head, her hands tightly gripping her skirt.
She didn't dare to look up to face her friends' gazes. Her cheeks were completely covered in a blush, and the tips of her ears were burning hot. Her heart was still beating very fast.
This was probably the most intimate contact she had ever had with a member of the opposite sex since she was born.
The feeling of her waist being supported by Zephyr's shoulder still lingered in her heart—warm, firm, and carrying a sense of security she could trust completely.
She took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound calmer. "I understand... it's okay. Thank you."
Kate stared at Zephyr, noticing the term he had blurted out just now for that unknown monster.
Crab Pig.
Lili had said that this thing was a brand-new monster. So, how did Zephyr know the name of the monster?
Her eyes flickered but she ultimately chose to swallow her words. She looked up at the position of the sun, it was nearly noon.
"In that case, let's end today's Dungeon exploration here."
Looking at Zephyr, the smile on her face remained bright. "We plan to go to a restaurant for a meal next, and then spend the afternoon exploring Orario properly. Besides, we're only two floors away. We have plenty of time. What about you guys?"
Zephyr did not answer immediately. He recalled the painful scene from encountering the Crab Pig just now. Even with Lefiya at Level 2, unleashing her full-power Arcs Ray, she was unable to pierce its skin.
And what about his own strength at the current stage?
Even with Dragon Roar, it would basically just buy time. Trying to kill the Crab Pig was simply unrealistic.
As long as he continued to follow the team to explore the Dungeon, it wouldn't just be trouble with the Crab Pig. He would definitely become a burden to the team.
Thinking of this, Zephyr turned his gaze back to Lefiya with a serious expression. "Lefiya, are you free later?"
"Hm?"
Upon noticing Zephyr's extremely serious expression, Lefiya inexplicably asked, "Um... are we going on a date in Orario?"
Zephyr: ?
Lili: ?
Kate's shoulders began to tremble slightly as she desperately held back the laughter that was about to burst out.
Zephyr's lips twitched, knowing he had to clarify quickly. After all, the most important thing right now was the direction to take next. Women or whatever—they would only affect the speed of his strength improvement.
Therefore, he decided to continue pretending nothing had happened. Zephyr maintained as normal a tone as possible. "I don't have any other plans for later. I'd like to ask you to take me and Lili to the Loki Familia headquarters, to discuss matters regarding a Familia transfer."
Updating status, ranking up.
This was originally Zephyr's established plan. If he followed his original idea, he would complete the exploration of the 18th floor step by step before considering these other matters.
Use his own talent to prove it to Loki?
Perhaps.
But plans couldn't keep up with changes. The difficulty of Dungeon exploration had been raised after [Outsider].
Just based on the current intensity, the team would only be dragged down more and more severely.
Moreover, he had recently pushed his stomach ability to the limit.
During this period of Dungeon exploration—Minotaur, Hellhound, Needle Rabbit, Silverback, and Infant Dragon...
Zephyr had basically not let any of these monsters go.
And as for his current stats, he himself was very curious.
To what extent could it grow?
According to what Loki mentioned a few days ago when updating his status at Twilight Manor, the limit for an Adventurer's stats is S-rank.
So, he should be able to reach it, right?
He weighed his words and briefly explained, "It's been a while since I updated my status, so I'm quite curious about the extent of the improvement this time. Besides, to explore deeper floors, one must have comparable strength."
Lefiya nodded.
Her face still retained the blush caused by the earlier misunderstanding, but the expression in her eyes had already settled.
Although Zephyr hadn't stated the specific reason explicitly, she had already vaguely guessed that it must be related to that Crab Pig from earlier.
She did not choose to expose it on the spot. That was, after all, Zephyr's own business.
Hearing that Zephyr was going to join her Familia today, she was overjoyed inside. From now on, the two of them could continue to go explore the Dungeon side-by-side as Familia partners, and hmm... also the Supporter, Lili.
Just thinking about this, Lefiya's eyes were filled with anticipation at this moment.
"Then follow me. Loki-sama is basically at the Familia headquarters during the day, so we will definitely be able to find her."
"Alright."
Zephyr turned his head and asked with a smile, "Lili, are you ready?"
Lili's face was filled with nervousness. She had never imagined that she would actually be able to join the Loki Familia—one of the top two Familias in Orario.
To get approval, being a genius was just the most basic condition.
However, she knew clearly that Zephyr's push was definitely behind her ability to successfully join.
With his talent, joining the Familia alone would definitely be more convenient than bringing her along. Yet he insisted on not doing so.
Regardless of the outcome, deep down, she did not want to let Zephyr's efforts go to waste, not to mention that the indescribable emotion deep within her heart was also urging her to move forward.
She absolutely had to go!
"Mm, I'm ready."