Chapter 33 - Probably Caused By Me!
"Have all the goblins been killed?"
Goblins were weak monsters, and most adventurers, after leveling up, wouldn't waste time here.
He thought the same, but hadn't expected another adventurer to have already cleared the first floor.
"Do I need to head to the second floor again?"
The adventurer frowned, thinking about it.
It was still early, and going back empty-handed would mean not earning a single valis.
But the second floor was full of monsters.
On the second floor, goblins weren't the only problem. Dungeon lizards and Kobolds were around too.
Any Level 1 adventurer caught by so many monsters would face death.
Frustrated, the man ruffled his hair. He didn't want to waste a whole day without making even one valis. No money meant he might not get to enjoy Soma's wine this month.
He glanced at the Supporter, and his frustration eased slightly. It wasn't like the Pallum was special, but if danger appeared on the second floor, the brat might come in handy.
"Hey, let's go to the second floor."
Liliruca Arde remained silent, following behind.
Once they had moved far enough away, Bell stepped out, frowning.
"Looks like there's a monster party happening on other floors, not just the first. Could this be because of me?"
There were too many thoughts running through Bell's mind, but he had a feeling that somehow this was related to him.
Otherwise, why would the Dungeon suddenly spawn so many monsters?
Maybe the changes on the first floor were causing a ripple effect through the Dungeon.
Maybe that was the answer.
"Is this my EX Luck? It seems like it's only helping me, while other adventurers might be in trouble."
Still, Bell didn't feel guilty.
Guilty? Why should he? He wasn't controlling the Dungeon.
If he were doing it on purpose, then sure, but those adventurers were just unlucky.
Of course, this mainly affected weaker adventurers. For the stronger ones, it might even be helpful.
For adventurers, most of their income came from magic stones.
More monsters meant more magic stones, at least for the veterans.
The weaker ones would probably struggle just to escape the overwhelming number of monsters.
Bell shook his head and sat down to rest. He wasn't in any hurry to figure out the reasons.
"I need to be careful. If this keeps happening, the Guild will start investigating. And if they look too deeply, my secret might get exposed."
Bell knew his secret would come out eventually, but he wanted to keep it hidden as long as possible.
He hoped he could grow stronger during this free time. Maybe reaching Level 5 would secure his place in the city.
"For now, I just need to avoid causing trouble for Hestia."
Standing out too much would only draw the attention of other gods, so keeping a low profile was important.
After a while, Bell felt his mana and strength returning as he rested. Finally, a goblin appeared on the first floor.
This time, instead of dozens, only one stood before him.
He listened closely and heard something fall in the distance.
The monsters hadn't all spawned in one place; they were scattered around.
Bell gave the goblin time to stand up. Once it was on its feet with its dagger, Bell calmly pulled out his Hestia Sword from his Spatial Pocket.
"Alright, let's see."
This time, Bell didn't use Royal Thunder.
He wanted to observe more subtle changes.
The goblin crouched, waiting for its chance, then charged.
Eight days ago, Bell would have dodged the attack and waited for an opening. But now...
SLASH!
With a swift motion, Bell cut off the goblin's hand, green blood spraying out. That's when Bell noticed something.
A white mark appeared on the goblin's body. Since goblins were normally green, the white stood out sharply. Bell narrowed his eyes and struck again.
The mark was on the goblin's chest. With one hand gone, the goblin couldn't defend itself. A clean cross-cut sliced through the mark, and the goblin crumbled into black ashes.
"Dead?"
"I didn't cut deep enough. But it still died. Could it be something like death lines?"
Bell was still confused.
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"What is it?"
For a moment, Bell couldn't figure it out.
But standing there wouldn't solve anything, so Bell quickly started searching for other goblins that had spawned.
As he listened carefully to the sounds around him, Bell noticed his hearing had sharpened, even more so compared to ten minutes ago. The faintest noises now reached his ears.
With the Hestia Sword in hand, Bell cautiously moved toward the source of the sounds. Soon, he saw three goblins approaching.
"It seems they rushed over after hearing the goblin's cry earlier. That saves me some trouble."
The three goblins charged at him.
A faint arc flickered over Bell's skin, lightning surging through him.
In an instant, Bell moved, swinging his sword with precision.
He quickly glanced at their bodies—again, the white marks or gaps appeared. Two were on their backs, and one on the chest. Without hesitation, Bell swung his blade at the two marks on their backs.
The force wasn't strong, but even so, something interesting happened.
YWAH!!
The two goblins shrieked in agony, their bodies trembling as if they were suffering immense pain.
Bell was surprised by this, but it was clear that even a light scratch on the white marks caused severe damage.
It wasn't a death line, but a damage point—a weak spot that inflicted significant harm.
This sight felt strangely familiar to Bell.
He could almost grasp the answer, but it slipped away just as quickly.
Without overthinking it, Bell used his speed to close the gap to the last goblin.
The mark was still there. Three seconds later, it vanished.
Suddenly, Bell understood.
Critical Hit.
That's what the white marks on the goblins' bodies signified.
In FGO, after an attack, critical stars would appear. The more stars, the higher the chance of landing a critical hit in the next attack.
A critical hit, of course, caused far more damage.
With that mystery solved, everything clicked.
Bell instantly swung his sword horizontally, killing the goblin.
Taking a step forward, he turned and swiftly finished off the two other goblins still writhing in pain.
Their bodies crumbled into black ash.
At that moment, Bell felt something flow into his body, replenishing the mana he had barely used. The pieces finally fit together, answering all his questions.
"A critical hit... I didn't expect the white marks to act like a critical hit cursor."
This discovery was a win for Bell.
As long as he dealt enough damage in a fight, those white marks would show up, and hitting them would result in massive damage.
In future battles with monsters that had tough defenses, critical hits would be key.
For Bell, increasing his damage output was essential.
"However, critical hits probably won't always appear."
After all, this wasn't a game where every attack guaranteed critical stars.
In reality, there had to be a different trigger for these critical hits.
Having confirmed his theory, Bell felt more at ease. His task for today was complete.
"Time to head back."
Shaking off the lingering questions, Bell quickly returned the Hestia Sword to his Spatial Pocket and made his way to the Dungeon entrance.
As he neared the exit, he saw several adventurers climbing the stairs, grumbling to one another.
"It's strange. Why is there a monster party today? They were on so many floors."
"I barely made it out alive."
"Seriously, what's going on? This never happens."
"Yeah, this is only the second time it's happened, and the last one was seven or eight days ago. I really hope this doesn't become a regular thing, or I might not make it next time."
"Right! Something like this did happen seven or eight days ago."
Hearing their complaints, Bell stayed calm and kept moving.
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Hope he can get crit hits when fighting the dragon...
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