Finn and Riveria were leading a group of bankrupt, debt-ridden people into the Dungeon to begin their money-making expedition.
With Finn and Riveria both at Lv. 6, Ais, Tiona, and Tione at Lv. 5, and Lefiya at Lv. 3, this was an exceptionally powerful party.
Not to ntion clearing the 18th floor—even diving straight to the 40th floor wouldn’t be out of reach for this lineup.
So, the group didn’t bother lingering on the upper floors. Their goal was clear: head straight to the safe zone on the 18th floor.
They moved quickly through the upper eleven floors. Upon reaching the stairs to the twelfth floor, they paused briefly.
Entering the twelfth floor required so preparation.
Finn pulled several torches and a flint from his spatial waist pouch.
"Tiona, Tione, Ais—you three take torches and form a triangle. Lefiya, you and Riveria hold the center."
The three took the torches and flint and lit them without hesitation, already familiar with the twelfth floor’s conditions.
Finn also lit his torch, then led the descent.
All six automatically softened their steps and slowed their pace, careful not to waste too much ti on this level.
Finn was the first to step into the twelfth floor.
But the mont he entered, sothing felt off.
The Spartoi on this level were notoriously sensitive to sound and light. While they only reacted to light at close range, it was common for them to lie motionless and feign death, waiting for adventurers to draw near.
But this ti, sothing was different.
There wasn’t a single Spartoi—no skeletons at all. Just large amounts of white ash scattered across the ground.
’Soone’s already been here?’
Finn hadn’t expected that. He scanned the area, and everywhere he looked, the ground was littered with white ash. Under the torchlight, he could even see plenty of magic stones still lying around.
’Were all the Spartoi wiped out?’
While it wasn’t unheard of for monsters to be cleared from a floor, very few adventurers would bother with a full sweep of the twelfth floor unless they were on an expedition. Even Finn wouldn’t usually go out of his way to clear it.
He couldn’t imagine who’d be idle or reckless enough to do this—but he still turned to inform the group following behind.
"No need to keep your guard up. The Spartoi have already been dealt with."
"Huh?"
The others instinctively looked around. There really was white ash everywhere—and no one had even collected the magic stones.
"Besides our expeditions, does anyone else ever fully clear this floor?" Tiona asked, voicing the sa question that had crossed Ais and the others’ minds.
Finn shook his head slightly and approached for a closer look. The white ash hadn’t yet been absorbed by the Dungeon, aning the Spartoi had been dealt with only recently.
He scanned the surroundings but saw no signs of large-scale magical destruction. So how had soone wiped out the Spartoi so quickly?
"Riveria."
Even before Finn called her na, Riveria had already begun examining the scene. Her brows knit slightly.
"There are traces of magic. Fierce lightning, to be exact."
That made Finn frown.
"But the ground doesn’t show signs of a large-scale magic burst."
"It was probably lightning magic applied to a weapon—or sothing like Ais’s wind-type spell. The mana fluctuations are weak, but the magical residue is heavy."
That detail reminded Riveria of the odd sensations she’d picked up on during their descent.
"Finn, I sensed this sa magical signature on the upper ten floors. If I’m right, it’s the sa person using the sa magic."
Finn gave a slight nod. Riveria had the sharpest sensitivity to mana among them, so if she was certain, there was no doubt.
"Then, just as you said, it’s probably a type of magic similar to Ais’s ’Ariel.’"
Ais’s ’’Ariel’ was a highly versatile wind-attribute spell, usable both for defense and to enhance attacks with wind, boosting their power.
So, it stood to reason that this lightning-based magic had a similar effect.
"I didn’t expect soone like that to show up in Orario."
Finn had always kept an eye out for promising talent in Orario, and his Familia actively sought out adventurers with rare gifts.
Even with all that attention, he’d never heard of anyone else in Orario possessing a magic so similar to Ais’s.
Riveria looked around and said, "Finn, this isn’t the place for a discussion."
Finn nodded and let it drop.
They still didn’t know who that unknown adventurer was. But if they had cleared this floor, then the sa might be true for the ones below.
"Tiona, Tione—stay alert for any erging Spartoi. Let’s get through here quickly."
The two sisters naturally heightened their awareness of their surroundings.
Ais’s gaze was equally sharp and wary.
With Riveria and Lefiya providing support, they moved out of the twelfth floor.
...
After the final level of the Upper Floors, they entered the Middle Floors.
Starting from the thirteenth floor, the Dungeon was no longer cloaked in darkness. Dim natural light filled the area, making torches unnecessary.
"White ash again? And this much of it?"
A large pile of white ash was stacked near the entrance to the thirteenth floor. Tiona asked Riveria, puzzled.
"Riveria, do you sense any magic?"
Riveria, who had been scanning for magical fluctuations the entire ti, gently shook her head.
"There’s no trace of magic here."
"Then doesn’t that an the monsters were taken down using weapons? Doesn’t that make this person the sa type as Ais?"
Without magical residue, it was only natural to assu the monsters were slain with physical weapons.
Riveria had sensed a familiar magic signature on the twelfth floor—one consistent with the earlier levels—and now, on the thirteenth floor, the monsters had been eliminated without a trace of mana.
Putting that together, didn’t it an the one who used magic to clear the Spartoi on the twelfth floor and then wiped out the monsters at the thirteenth floor’s entrance with weapons... was basically another Ais?
Tiona’s theory wasn’t wrong. Finn and Riveria both agreed.
Based on what they’d observed so far, this unknown adventurer really did seem to be the sa type as Ais—proficient in both close-combat weaponry and versatile lightning magic.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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