Capítulo 27: 027 Why does it look so alike?
Underground city, Level 1.
At the entrance of this floor closest to the surface, Reiger and Rephia were walking down the stairs.
Accompanying them were other adventurers, including orcs, dwarves, elves, and Amazons.
Mixed among them, Reiger and Rephia did not stand out particularly, except for some male adventurers who glanced at Rephia with a hint of desire, they hardly caught anyone's attention.
Rephia seemed somewhat anxious, gripping her Magic Wand tightly and carrying a huge backpack, closely following behind Reiger.
Reiger was chatting with Rephia casually, in a sporadic manner, until they reached the end of the stairs and stepped onto the soil of the first floor, where they finally stopped.
"So, just as we discussed earlier, I will take the lead as the vanguard and you will support with firepower from the rear guard, no problem, right?"
Reiger inquired of Rephia.
"No, no problem!"
Rephia nodded hurriedly, without any objection.
"Then I'm counting on you," Reiger said. "Since our team is one person short, there might be some risks for you as the rear guard. I will try my best to prevent any monster from getting to you. Just focus on your Chanting Magic."
It is generally believed that the best way to explore an underground city is with a team of three, each responsible for attacking, defending, and supporting.
The vanguard is the main attacker and is also responsible for attracting enemy attention, blocking the enemies' advance, and protecting teammates in the rear from monster threats.
The midfielder is responsible for defending against enemy counterattacks and sometimes needs to assist the vanguard to alleviate their pressure.
The rear guard is mainly responsible for providing long-range support, either through magic attacks or by using a bow and crossbow, and they also handle healing when the frontline members are injured.
Such a clear division of roles in a team produces significant results in conquering the underground city.
Therefore, guilds and various clans always organize expeditions in this team mode and move together, unless absolutely necessary. When exploring an underground city, forming a team of three is the minimum requirement.
In such cases, if a team lacks one person, forming a pair instead, the burden on one party increases and the likelihood of encountering accidents and dangers rise during the conquest.
Rephia is a pure rear guard Magic Guide, almost incapable of anything but using magic for long-range attacks and fire support. Considering this, Reiger took it upon himself to handle both the vanguard and midfielder roles.
In other words, Reiger not only had to charge ahead as the vanguard attracting enemy attacks but also stop all monsters, preventing any from breaking through and reaching Rephia.
This was naturally a heavy burden, making Rephia feel somewhat guilty.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't be of help..."
Rephia dared not meet Reiger's eyes.
"Don't say that," Reiger shook his head, looked at Rephia, and said, "You are, after all, a rear guard Magic Guide, and that's your role. You shouldn't have to do anything beyond your responsibilities."
As he spoke, Reiger took out a map, spread it out, and laid it in front of them.
"Considering that we have just formed our team, and are not yet coordinated, let alone familiar with each other, let's see how it goes today. We should be fine exploring up to about the ninth level, right?"
No matter what, Rephia, being a Level 3, second-tier adventurer, and purely a rear guard Magic Guide without melee capabilities, the floors containing only Level 1 monsters were basically incapable of inflicting fatal damage on her.
From this perspective, unless the two descended to the thirteenth floor where Level 2 monsters appear, Rephia could only get injured at most and would not lose her life.
However, considering that the two were teaming up for the first time and coordinating for the first time, heading directly to floors ten to twelve, where large monsters appear, might also pose some risks. Hence, Reiger temporarily set their goal at the ninth floor.
Although Reiger personally wanted to delve deeper, today wasn't about seeking thrills but about honing team fighting capabilities, so he had to give up the somewhat reckless thoughts in his mind and focus on the "safety" issues he was previously reluctant to consider.
However, Reiger felt he had already considered safety fully, Rephia was startled by his words.
"The... the ninth level...!?"
Surprise filled Rephia's eyes as she looked at Reiger.
It couldn't be helped.
"To go down to such a deep floor?" Rephia said. "Mr. Reiger has only recently become an adventurer and has just received his blessing not long ago; he is a complete novice. How can he go so deep?"
As someone who had accompanied clan seniors on expeditions, Rephia had been to as deep as around the fiftieth level. Naturally, a mere ninth level wouldn't scare her.
But Reiger had only recently joined the clan as a novice, even though Rephia was unable to assert herself as a senior in front of him, she knew how dangerous it would be for a novice to go to the ninth level.
That level was only accessible to veteran adventurers who were considered skilled even among Level 1, and always in a team formation.
Reiger, a novice who had joined the clan less than a week ago, teaming up with an immature clan junior like herself—that too in a dual role of vanguard and midfielder—frankly, it was not a smart way to court danger.
"Don't worry," Reiger saw that Rephia seemed to want to stop him, and said, "It's just the ninth level, it won't pose a danger to me now."
With Reiger's current ability, the ninth level posed almost no difficulty at all.
Not to mention his basic abilities of "Agility" and "Dexterity", which Reiger had already trained to a B tier, even his "Strength" and "Endurance" had reached C tier.
According to the safe exploration standards, at Level 1, the eighth to tenth floors required one to have abilities ranging from E tier to C tier, and the eleventh and twelfth floors required from B tier to S tier.
Thus, Reiger could now go down to the eleventh floor for a safe conquest, and even the twelfth floor was not a problem.
It was only the 9th level, as long as Reiger hadn't completely lost his ability to fight or was surrounded by an indeterminate number of monsters, it would be difficult for him even to get hurt.
"But....."
Unaware of all this, Rephia still looked worried.
Seeing this, Reiger didn't insist and said,
"Otherwise, let's try exploring first and decide later how deep we want to go."
Hearing this, Rephia breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly.
"Let's set out then,"
Reiger put away the map, and smiled at Rephia.
Seeing the calm and steady smile on Reiger's face, Rephia felt reassured and rare for her, she also smiled.
At that time, Rephia didn't know that the calmness and steadiness she felt was just superficial.
Soon, her understanding of Reiger would shatter completely.
...
Underground city, 6th level.
This level was deeper than the 5th level, known as the first casualty line for adventurers, and much more dangerous than the 5th level.
On this level, there was a type of monster called Assassin Shadow.
This was a creature with a humanoid outline, devoid of any fur-like or skin-like tissue, its body seemed as if it was slathered with black paint, the head shaped like a cross, its face mirrored, highly resembling a person's shadow but bizarre and otherworldly.
This monster, along with the Killer Ants of the 7th level, were known as "newcomer's assassins"; although its attacks were monotonous, they possessed astonishing power and speed, with arms that could extend from various angles boasting a remarkable attack range, and sharp claws that could easily decapitate a person, just like a long sword, posing a deadly threat to those adventurers who had only dealt with lower-level monsters like Kobolds and Goblins before.
Especially when the number of Assassin Shadows accumulated to a certain scale, even an experienced adventurer at level 1 could potentially lose their life if surrounded by them.
For this reason, many adventurers considered Assassin Shadows as one of the most threatening representative monsters on the upper layers; one or two alone was manageable, but encountering a group of them meant trouble unless one was leveled up, so few would provoke them deliberately.
However, today, this unwritten rule universally acknowledged by adventurers was broken by a newcomer who had just received a favor not long ago.
Moreover, it was done in the most brutal way.
"Puch!"
Accompanied by a sound like slicing through flesh, a silver blade instantly severed the neck of an Assassin Shadow, its head flying high in a cross-like configuration.
Reiger, holding his rapier, dashed through a group of Assassin Shadows.
A multitude of Assassin Shadows heavily surrounded Reiger and extended their sharp claws, intending to rip him apart.
However, the usually unbeatable speed and attack distance of the Assassin Shadows were ineffective in front of Reiger.
Reiger, moving at a speed comparable to a bullet, shook off the 'sluggish' Assassin Shadows. His sword easily passed through numerous sharp claws, drawing swathes of sword light, splitting open one Assassin Shadow after another, killing them on the spot.
From afar, it appeared as a phantom darting among a group of Assassin Shadows, causing a series of blade flashes and razor-edged shadows in a one-sided massacre, profoundly shocking to behold.
"..."
Rephia, grasping her Magic Wand, was stunned.
The elf girl, who had planned to support by chanting magic, now completely forgot her duties, staring blankly at the "newcomer" slaughtering wildly among the monsters.
"...Is this a newcomer?"
Such mature combat.
Such efficient slaughter.
Could a newcomer really accomplish this?
Are all newcomers so strong now?
What am I then?
Useless?
Rephia was utterly frightened.
What shocked the girl the most was that from Reiger's ruthless charge, she could see a familiar shadow.
A figure long admired, long revered, and deeply cherished by the girl.
"Miss Ais...?"
Mr. Reiger's method of fighting, why does it resemble Miss Ais so much?
The elf girl was confused.
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