Dungeon, 27th Floor.
The sounds of an intense battle echoed without interruption.
Accompanied by a resentful roar, Cain reappeared at the edge of the waterfall basin.
"Phew. As expected of a Labyrinth King, its strength is even greater than I imagined."
"If the corner of your clothes had even a single drop of water on it, I might actually believe you."
Tiona's retort came from behind him.
Having swum all the way to the edge of the waterfall basin, the Amazon girl climbed out looking like a completely drenched rat.
"Seriously, if I had known it would turn out like this, I would have let Tione go first."
"With your personality, you would have fallen into the water no matter when you went in. The result would be the same."
Tione leaped over from the ice platform.
Compared to Tiona's soaked appearance, she looked much better, with only a few bloodstains on her clothes.
"Ais, how do you feel?"
After tidying his slightly messy hair, Cain turned to look at Ais, who had returned right behind them.
Since he was not lacking in achievements, he did not actually need to challenge the Labyrinth King.
The real reason he had attacked Amphisbaena was to train Ais, allowing her to maintain Hamon during high intensity combat.
"I have grasped some patterns."
Facing Cain's question, Ais, who was still wearing her high heeled shoes, thought for a moment before replying.
Even with only one head remaining, Amphisbaena had still exerted tremendous pressure.
Combined with the fact that the battle took place on water, she had gained a considerable amount of practical experience during the fight.
If there was any flaw, it was that the battle had ended too quickly.
Because of Cain's overwhelming performance, Amphisbaena had been suppressed almost completely, leaving little room for resistance. The rest of the fight had essentially been a one sided beating.
"Don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities."
Seemingly seeing through Ais's thoughts, Cain pointed at the ground beneath his feet.
"This battle was only meant to help you adapt. Our next destination is the real main course."
Hearing this, Tiona asked curiously from the side.
"Where are you planning to go next? Don't tell me you're taking us to deal with Udaeus."
Cain shook his head.
"Udaeus still has quite a while before it respawns, so we will not make it during this expedition. We can talk about it next time."
"Wait... wait a minute!"
Lefiya, who had been listening nearby, could not help but join the conversation.
"Amphisbaena is one thing, but Udaeus is absolutely excessive no matter how you look at it!"
If Amphisbaena only reached Level 6 threat levels by relying on its terrain advantage, then as the Floor Boss of the 37th Floor, Udaeus possessed base abilities comparable to Level 6 even without such advantages.
Combined with the special abilities unique to Floor Bosses, even a Level 6 adventurer could potentially be injured while fighting it.
"If you really want to deal with Udaeus, I think it would be better to report it to Captain Finn and the others and have a Level 6 lead the team."
Cain rejected the suggestion without hesitation.
"The effect would not be the same if a Level 6 were leading the party. We are here to train and accumulate achievements, not to go sightseeing."
"And you do not need to worry that much. Once I break through to Level 3, I will be able to hold Udaeus back head on. If we are lucky, I might even reach Level 4 by the time of the next expedition, which would make the battle even easier."
Tiona nodded in agreement.
"That's right. When that happens, Lefiya, you can just stay in the back and cast magic like you did this time."
Lefiya: "..."
Wait. That is not the point at all.
If she remembered correctly, Cain had only broken through to Level 2 a few days ago.
Just how absurdly lucky would someone have to be to break through to Level 4 in such a short period of time?
Lefiya stared at Cain for two seconds, hesitating as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she dismissed his words as a joke and decided not to think about it any further.
On the other side, after wringing the water from the hem of her skirt, Tiona returned the conversation to the previous topic.
"Since the next target is not Udaeus, where are you planning to take Ais for training?"
"37th Floor. The Colosseum."
"The Colosseum?"
Tiona tilted her head slightly.
The name sounded somewhat familiar.
"You mean that place where monsters respawn endlessly?"
"Yes."
"That is far too dangerous."
Tione, standing nearby, frowned as her expression turned serious.
The Colosseum was a special area within the Dungeon where monsters would respawn endlessly.
This was not an exaggerated description. It was a literal infinite respawn.
With a certain number serving as the upper limit, once the monsters inside were defeated, the Colosseum would immediately generate new monsters to replace them.
As a Deep Floors area, most monsters on the 37th Floor were around Level 4.
Fighting inside the Colosseum was equivalent to facing an endless siege of Level 4 monsters.
In some ways, it was even more dangerous than fighting a Labyrinth King.
Under normal circumstances, even a party of First Class Adventurers would avoid approaching that place.
Tione: "If the goal is only training, I do not think going to the Colosseum is necessary."
"If that does not work, we could go deeper into the Dungeon or look for rare monsters to fight instead."
Cain (shaking his head): "Hamon requires maintaining composure under any circumstances. Ordinary battles cannot meet the training requirements."
As a Level 5 adventurer, Ais's high starting point allowed her to learn Hamon quickly.
But at the same time, it was not easy for her to experience enough pressure during ordinary combat.
If he wanted her to truly master it, the Colosseum was currently the best option.
Besides, he also needed a large number of battles to raise his own ability values.
Compared to wandering around searching for monsters, going directly to the Colosseum was far more efficient.
"Ais, what do you think?"
Seeing that Cain had already made up his mind, Tione thought for a moment and looked toward the blonde girl beside her.
"I want to go."
Ais answered without the slightest hesitation.
After a full day of battle, she had already begun to experience the benefits of Hamon.
If she wanted to become stronger and eventually kill the Black Dragon, she had to master this Breathing Technique.
"Alright then. We are heading to the 37th Floor."
...
Orario, Entertainment District.
At the same time Cain and the others were exploring the Dungeon.
Wearing a borrowed Invisibility Helmet, Ryuu successfully infiltrated the Ishtar Familia.
"Not here either."
Ryuu stepped out of the room with an awkward expression.
It was still early morning. The Amazon girls who had worked throughout the night had just finished seeing off their guests.
Occasionally, when she slipped into a room, she would witness scenes of indescribable "cream bread."
As a conservative elf, the impact of such sights was rather overwhelming.
Perhaps she should have asked Cain to send someone else for this mission.
Standing in the empty corridor, Ryuu briefly felt the rare urge to abandon the assignment.
However, at that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed from nearby.
Ryuu turned her head and saw an approaching Amazon woman.
"Hmm?"
Aisha suddenly stopped walking.
She stared at the empty space beside her for two seconds before suddenly throwing a punch forward.
A sharp sound of air being torn apart echoed as the heavy blow stopped just in front of the wall.
"...An illusion?"
Aisha reached out and felt around the surrounding area again.
After confirming that there was nothing there, she dismissed the strange feeling of being watched as a hallucination caused by exhaustion from a long night's work and continued walking forward.
Ryuu: "..."
Clinging to the ceiling with both hands and feet, Ryuu quietly breathed a sigh of relief after watching the other woman leave.
That had been careless.
Because everything had gone too smoothly earlier, she had nearly forgotten that this place was the headquarters of the Ishtar Familia.
After adjusting her mindset, she dropped down from the ceiling and looked toward the direction Aisha had gone.
That Amazon woman appeared to be one of the executives of the Ishtar Familia, Aisha Belka.
According to Cain, she had a good relationship with their mission target, Sanjono Haruhime.
"This might be a good opportunity."
After thinking for a moment, Ryuu walked toward the direction Aisha had taken.
...
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