I went to the tower, and when I arrived at the entrance, I found some familiar faces—the members of the Loki Familia: Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Bete. It had been a while since I st saw Bete, but he seemed well.

  I remember him feeling unwell before.

  "Good morning." I approached.

  "Luan? I didn't expect to see you here!" Tiona said excitedly. "What are you doing? Are you going into the dungeon? You can come with us if you want."

  "Tiona!" Ais called her attention.

  Bete gred at Tiona before looking at me. "I don't want this guy here. If he comes, I'm not going. I don't trust him," Bete said bluntly, uncaring of how I might feel. I smiled bitterly and cleared my throat.

  "It's fine, Tiona. I want to explore the dungeon alone today. I don't want to be a bother."

  "But..."

  "Tiona, don't insist," Tione said, clearly uncomfortable. "Sorry, Luan. It's just that she really likes you, so..."

  "Don't worry, it's fine." I gnced at Bete one more time before saying goodbye.

  As I walked away, I heard him say something.

  My perception and senses were sharper than ever.

  "What do you guys see in him? Why do you care so much about that guy? He's not trustworthy!"

  I ignored his words and moved forward.

  I descended the spiral stairs and headed to the first floor of the dungeon. Once there, I drew the "Bck Dragon" sword from my inventory and looked at it once more. "This sword protected me that day, didn't it?"

  This sword used a kind of magic to shield me and even flew on its own.

  "It has a will of its own." Hearing my words, the sword trembled. Then, a voice echoed in my mind.

  [Weak]

  It was a deep voice that made my soul shiver. Just hearing it caused immense discomfort.

  "Who are you calling weak, you idiot?" Despite feeling a bit shaken, I didn't let it show. I gred at the sword and waited for a response, but the only word it uttered was:

  [Weak]

  I clicked my tongue and swung the sword forcefully.

  "You'd better not show up again just to call me an idiot. Stay quiet!"

  "Hey, who's that guy talking to?"

  "I don't know. Just ignore him."

  "Isn't he that guy from the Hestia Familia who's getting famous?"

  "Shhh, don't draw attention. Can't you see he's way stronger than us? Leave him be!"

  A group passed by as I argued with the sword. I felt extremely embarrassed and quickly ran away from them, heading toward the dungeon's second floor.

  I moved so fast that I had to be careful not to crash into the walls.

  Along the way, I encountered some monsters. My sword sliced through their necks before they even realized what hit them.

  It felt like a speedrun.

  I killed a rge number of monsters.

  Before I knew it, I had already reached the sixth floor of the dungeon.

  I stopped running and began walking slowly to eat something. After finishing my meal, I started running again, aiming to reach Rivira as quickly as possible.

  I've never explored the floors below Rivira.

  Just thinking about it makes me excited.

  ####

  My perception was incredibly sharp now. When I reached the 12th floor, I could sense the presence of monsters. Since it had been a while since I st fought, I decided to stop and have some fun.

  The monsters on the 12th floor are: Orcs, Silverbacks, Hard Armored, Bad Bats, and Imps.

  "But the ones I want to encounter are Bck Wyvern and Infant Dragon. Real strong monsters on this floor. But it won't be easy."

  I kept walking, constantly sensing presences around me, yet none of the monsters dared to approach. They seemed afraid of me. "Strange."

  This had never happened before since these monsters aren't intelligent.

  They never ran from a fight.

  "There are some Orcs to the west, a fairly rge group of Imps to the East, and I can even sense some flying monsters in that direction."

  All of them avoided me, which made me a bit uncomfortable.

  Then I remembered the sword in my hand.

  "Are you causing this?" I asked the sword, but it didn't respond.

  Well, how about a test? I have another sword in my inventory, so it should be fine.

  I stored the "Bck Dragon" in my inventory and pulled out a regur sword. The difference was striking. "Holding the Bck Dragon is way more comfortable."

  The moment I stored the Bck Dragon, I was finally attacked.

  All the nearby monsters charged at me.

  "Interesting." I smiled and didn't move, letting the monsters approach.

  Bats came from above, Orcs and other monsters charged simultaneously. The only ones who didn't attack were the Imps, who were far more cautious.

  I waited for the monsters to get close, and just as they were about to strike, I vanished from their sight.

  "Teleport." I reappeared above the bats, a serene smile on my face as I used Fire Magic to unleash a powerful fme that consumed the bats below me and the monsters on the ground.

  A sea of fmes erupted, dissipating the mist.

  Every monster within the radius of my attack vanished, and I nded gracefully, feeling no pain in my legs.

  I stored my sword in the inventory and cracked my knuckles.

  My eyes were drawn to a rge rock in the distance. Next to the rock stood a tree. I spotted an Imp on the tree and sensed the others hiding behind the rock.

  I activated the "Bloodlust" skill and charged at the Imps, spreading panic.

  I reached the rock in an instant and punched it without worrying about hurting my hand.

  I knew I'd be fine, so I did it.

  My fist struck the rock, causing a massive crack followed by an explosion that sent debris flying everywhere, even hitting the Imps.

  I looked at my unscathed hand after the punch, and my heart raced.

  "This is freaking awesome."

  It's like I'm Superman!

  ParodyGirl