Strolling through the layers of the dungeon, August walked as if taking a leisurely stroll, extremely casual.
At this moment, Tsubaki, who was originally in the Hephaestus Familia team came back.
"Quite comfortable, huh, judging by your appearance."
"My role in the expedition is a humanoid warehouse. I don't need to worry about anything other than the warehouse."
"You're really shamelessly flaunting it."
"No way, that's just how outstanding I am."
Saying this, August tossed her hair, giving Tsubaki a sassy look.
However, the two of them had a relationship of sleeping together, so August had long developed immunity to Tsubaki's antics.
Seeing this, Gareth on the side was speechless. Just yesterday, chaos almost erupted because of Haruhime's arrival, and today she was having a heated exchange with Tsubaki. It was truly impressive.
This also made Gareth feel like he might be getting old.
Especially since Tsubaki was a half-dwarf, her body shape didn't resemble that of a dwarf at all.
In this way, there were no disturbances on the way. After all, they were only in the upper-middle layers, and the weakest members of the team were at level 3. In such layers, nothing significant could happen.
"There's a smell of blood, and it's very close."
At this moment, Aki in the team suddenly spoke up. As a cat girl, her sense of smell was very keen.
"This is a dungeon, having a smell of blood is quite normal."
Raul didn't care, after all, people and monsters were dying every day in the dungeon, and not just humans, monsters also bled.
The others around were also indifferent, not paying much attention to this matter.
Howl~
Just at this moment, at the end of the road, a red minotaur, wielding a huge sword, slowly approached.
Beside it, a torn-in-half corpse was discarded.
And on this road, two figures were thinking about sprinting over.
"Hey, isn't that your lil bro?"
Tsubaki said slowly as she saw the approaching figures.
"Ah~"
August also nodded. The two people were Bell and Lili.
And the monster behind them was the minotaur, and it was also the sword-wielding Minotaur.
"Bunny."
"Big bro?"
Seeing August in an instant, Bell suddenly had a backbone and quickly ran over.
Lili also showed a hopeful look. In her heart, August had long been deified.
Bang~
At the first moment Bell came over, August directly gave her a beating.
This sudden beating made Bell's face full of joy and surprise, all turned into embarrassment, because every time August saw her, he would hit her head.
"What are you doing, hitting girl's heads, are you still a man?"
Tsubaki quickly pulled Bell over. She had a good impression of this girl who looked like a little bunny.
"What did you do again? Where did you provoke minotaur, and it looks like an enhanced species."
"I don't know, I just came here, and it appeared."
Bell was also very aggrieved. What did it have to do with her encountering a monster?
Looking at Bell's aggrieved expression, August felt a bit speechless. Was this the inertia of the plot?
Even without the previous plot, would Bell still encounter this minotaur and become a Ox Slayer?
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
At this moment, the minotaur, wielding a huge sword, had already walked over. It was covered in various wounds, and its entire body was pitch black. At first glance, it was an enhanced species of the minotaur.
*ROOOOOAR*
When it approached, minotaur roared in anger as soon as it saw August. Then, quickly lifting the huge sword, it charged towards August.
This left August utterly confused. Did he do something to provoke this monster, why this charging at him like this?
"A black minotaur that can wield a sword? Haven't seen that before."
"Whatever, let's take it down."
The two immediately rushed forward, ready to deal with this minotaur.
Boom~
Slap~
However, the next moment, these two level 3 guys were directly sent flying.
Everyone watching was wide-eyed. Was this minotaur? Just a level 2 monster, and it actually instakilled two level 3 adventurers?
August squinted his eyes. In the original work, this minotaur trained by Ottar was only level 2.
But this minotaur in front of him was at least level 3, possibly even level 4.
Was this creature really a minotaur? An enhanced species?
"Kill you!"
A voice echoed in August's ears.
This made August shiver. Subconsciously looking around, he found that the others had no reaction, as if they hadn't heard the voice.
However, August could be certain that he did hear the voice just now, and it was very likely coming from the black minotaur in front of him.
"Interesting."
Out of curiosity, August walked up.
Gareth knew August's strength, so he wasn't worried. It was just a minotaur, even if it was an enhanced species, it shouldn't be a big deal.
Bang~
Looking at August, the minotaur directly raised its huge sword and slashed towards August.
Immediately, shadows condensed, turning into a blade that blocked the attack.
"Very powerful strength, almost level 4. Surprising. Even if it's an enhanced minotaur, it should be level 3. How did a level 4 minotaur suddenly appear?"
*ROOOOOAR*
"Kill you!"
Again, this voice. August could confirm that this voice was definitely coming from this minotaur in front of him.
This voice was something only he could understand, or did it really speak? Only he could hear it.
Boom~
The shadow blade turned into shadow claws, directly slapping the minotaur to the ground.
The huge shadow claws almost squeezed the minotaur, nearly three to four meters tall, completely in its grasp, even its giant sword was left hanging on the ground.
This scene deeply shocked everyone behind, especially Aki and Raul.
Originally, they thought the reason August received attention and privileges was because of his spatial abilities.
Now it seemed that August's strength was incredibly powerful. He effortlessly controlled such a powerful enhanced Minotaur.
"Kill you!"
Again, this voice. August narrowed his eyes slightly.
The long-buried memories gradually surfaced. In this dungeon, there were some special beings, known as the Xenos, born with intelligence among monsters.
These Xenos were born in the dungeon and possessed the intellect of 'monsters.'
These creatures had a peculiar characteristic, they were monsters but had the same intelligence as humans. They were unique exceptions.
All Xenos, however, were tragic individuals.
Because not only would they be hunted by human adventurers, but they would also be hunted by monsters. They were extremely pitiful beings.
___
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Watching the struggling minotaur in the grasp of the shadow claw, August narrowed his eyes slightly.
In the original work, there was indeed a powerful black minotaur, initially trained by Ottar to help Bell undergo a transformation.
Now, due to August's chaotic influence on the storyline, none of that happened.
August couldn't figure out where this black minotaur came from. Perhaps it was just a product of the storyline's inertia, giving birth to this monster.
*ROOOOOAR*
"Kill you!"
This Minotaur continued to struggle and roar, but in August's ears, it turned into two words.
"Regardless of what you are, if you want to kill me, you must at least be my equal. Your strength is too weak. So, reincarnate and continue to grow stronger, strong enough to kill me."
A calm and indifferent voice echoed, and at that moment, the minotaur, which had been struggling, suddenly stopped.
In this moment, a man and a minotaur faced each other.
August smiled, enough to confirm that this minotaur possessed intelligence, a Xenos
Although Xenos had intelligence, not all of them could speak.
"Goodbye, Minotaur."
Splat~
The shadow blade came rushing, cutting off the minotaur's head.
The black minotaur turned into ashes, leaving only a magic stone.
Looking at the dungeon he was in, August's gaze appeared somewhat solemn.
In Orario, there was a saying that the dungeon was alive, and all monsters were the dungeon's children.
August didn't know if this was true, but within the dungeon, there was an independent set of rules, including the reincarnation of monsters.
After a monster was killed, it would reincarnate and be born again from the dungeon.
Repeating endlessly, with no end in sight.
"What's wrong?"
Tsubaki, seeing August standing still, couldn't help but walk over.
"Nothing, just thinking about something."
Putting aside all the chaotic elements, the most important thing now was the expedition, everything else didn't matter.
Tsubaki didn't ask more because she knew that if it was necessary, August would tell her.
It was at this moment that Bell and Lili approached.
"Thank you, big bro, for saving me again."
"Hmph, it's been a month already, and you don't seem to have gotten much stronger."
"I'm not you, big bro. I don't have the talent you do."
"Don't give me that look, making it seem like I did something to you."
As he spoke, August continued to ruffle Bell's head, turning her hair into a mess.
Lili, on the side, looked at the scene with envy. She admired Bell's luck to have such a big brother. Although he often bullied her, most of the time, he treated her well.
"Big bro, are you going to the lower levels of the dungeon?"
"No, we're heading to the deep layers, the deepest."
"The deepest?"
"The Fifty nine floor."
"F-Fifty nine?"
"We're on an expedition."
"Expedition?"
Seeing Bell's clueless look, August felt speechless. Maybe bringing her along as a lil bro not as a lil sis was a mistake.
"Lady Bell, an expedition is when a familia explores the depths of the dungeon as a unit. However, the only familia in all of Orario capable of reaching the 59th floor is the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia."
"Is that so? That's amazing."
"Enough, wake up. You two go back, we're still on an expedition."
"I understand, big bro."
Bell nodded, she wasn't the type to make a fuss.
With the death of the minotaur, the expedition team naturally continued.
However, as a privileged class, August had some privileges. Everyone continued to move forward, not going too far, leaving time for August to catch up with the main group.
Seeing Bell off with a wave, August caught up with the main group.
Looking at August's figure, Bell's eyes were full of envy. She also wanted to become strong enough to explore the deeper layers of the dungeon.
...
After half a day, the group finally arrived at the first stop of this expedition, the 18th floor.
Here, Finn and others had been waiting for a long time.
Upon arrival, August took out the tent and other items stored with him. The logistics team then started working.
Soon, a camp appeared on the 18th floor, and dinner was being prepared.
The meeting of the two teams signaled that the real expedition would begin early tomorrow morning.
It was still afternoon, and since there were people to handle both major and minor matters, August had some free time.
He directly came to a pond, undressed, and jumped into the water.
Since coming to Orario, this was August's first time swimming.
"Tomorrow is the expedition, today, I'm going to have a good time playing."
"Always playing, every day."
"Alright, Miss Tiona, Miss Tione, stop arguing."
"Your familia is really interesting. The atmosphere is so good."
A woman's voice came over, and August felt speechless. He never expected to encounter such a situation.
Soon, several people walked out of the woods, Ais, Lefiya, Tione, Tiona, and Tsubaki.
"This spot is mine. Find another place."
Just as the girls were preparing to undress and enter the water, August's voice rang out.
They were startled, looking up, and saw August sitting by the large rock in the pond, with his body soaking in the water.
"August, what are you doing here? Put some clothes on."
Tiona spoke loudly, trying to take the initiative.
"You figure it out. I was here first. If you want to argue, it's because you all saw me naked. I'm the one at a disadvantage here."
"You!"
She wanted to retort, but she couldn't because it was indeed August who arrived first.
"This spot is taken. If you want to bathe, find another place."
"Why? This is the biggest pond, and the location here is the best."
"I was here first."
"Why are you like this? We're girls, you know."
"Heh~"
August disdainfully turned his head away. What if they were girls? Did that mean boys had to give up their space for them?
August had a stubborn temperament. If you argued with him, he would give you no respect.
___
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