LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 14: Hestia's Young Blade!
Chapter 14: Hestia's Young Blade!
"Hey, Pallum fellow, will there really be a Minotaur on this floor? You're not lying to us, are you?"
Inside the 4th floor of the Dungeon, Lili and Bell were leading a team of well-equipped adventurers towards the 5th floor.
The leader of the adventurer team was a tall man clad in fiery red armor.
He was quite famous among Lv.2 adventurers.
Because he habitually used a two-handed greatsword, he was also known as the Crimson Greatswordsman.
It was said that he once fought his way alone to the 19th floor, a man whose strength matched his fame.
"Adventurer-sama, Lili is definitely not lying to you! Please, please hurry! Luke-sama is still trapped on the 5th floor, I beg you, you must save him!"
Running ahead to lead the way, Lili eagerly pleaded with this powerful man, tears constantly welling up in her eyes.
"...Even if you beg me like this, if it really is a Minotaur from the Middle Floors, then your friend who is only Lv.1 is most likely already doomed."
Seeing the mix of anxiety, sorrow, and pleading on Lili's face, the man frowned slightly, feeling a bit sympathetic, but out of professional adventurer ethics, he still stated the truth: "You'd best not hold out any hope... But even if your friend has already met misfortune, we will help you subjugate that Minotaur. After all, we took so much money from you, this small matter is no problem."
After Lili escaped from the fifth floor, she first found Bell on the third floor, who was fighting several monsters.
She told him about the Minotaur appearing on the fifth floor.
The two discussed it and decided to recruit powerful adventurers in the square outside Babel.
Because the situation was critical, to save as much time as possible, they directly took out all the assets they had shared over the past half month.
A full sum of over five hundred thousand Valis.
Although it couldn't compare to the large share Luke took, it was definitely not a small amount.
Although the Minotaur was a monster from the Middle Floors, if it was just one, the difficulty of subjugating it wasn't too great for adventurers Lv.2 and above.
And five hundred thousand Valis was enough for those large Lv.2 and Lv.3 adventurer teams to work in the Middle Floors for several days.
But now they only needed to hunt one slightly troublesome monster to get this money; it could be said to be a guaranteed profitable deal.
Under the money offensive, Lili and Bell quickly found an adventurer team willing to help and strong enough.
After simple negotiations, the two parties established an employment relationship.
A large group of people then rushed into the Dungeon menacingly, heading towards the fifth floor.
As the saying goes, take people's money to eliminate their disasters.
The hired adventurers were all experienced veterans.
On their way down, they even came up with dozens of ways to quickly deal with that Minotaur that had strayed onto the fifth floor.
But not a single one of them believed that the "Luke-sama" Lili spoke of was still alive.
Only after truly ascending from Lv.1 to Lv.2 and entering the Middle Floors of the Dungeon could one understand just how powerful Lv.2 monsters truly were.
Hardened shells and thick hides that became difficult for swords to injure, highly aggressive violent instincts, and attribute values far exceeding adventurers of the same level...
Every year in Orario, hundreds of adventurers successfully rose from Lv.1 to Lv.2, but fewer than dozens of these adventurers survived.
And those who died were almost all killed by Middle Floor monsters.
Misjudging their own strength, using the experience of hunting Upper Floor monsters to enter the Middle Floors alone...
The fate of such fools naturally need not be said.
Those with slightly weaker skills were lucky, at least they died quickly.
But those adventurers with combat talent often fought desperately until their last ounce of strength was exhausted, making the period before death quite painful and agonizing.
However, there are two sides to every coin.
Lv.1 Luke encountering a Middle Floor monster, the Minotaur, on the fifth floor was certainly unfortunate, but presumably, he didn't suffer too much pain when he died, right?
And if Luke was a Lv.2 adventurer...
The Minotaur, with its bull head, from personality to attack methods, was exactly like a wild bull.
When facing a strong enemy that could pose a threat, they would instinctively assume a charging posture, using that pair of hard horns to pierce the opponent's body full of holes.
Being disemboweled alive, then watching your own organs spill all over the ground... that was definitely not an interesting experience.
The adventurers quickly passed through the stairs leading to the fifth floor.
Some drew their weapons, some calmly observed, some were excited about the impending Valis, but apart from Lili and Bell leading the way at the front, no one intended to rescue the adventurer named Luke.
Because in everyone's eyes, he was already equated with a dead person.
And those who died in the Dungeon didn't even leave corpses behind, so where was the need for them to save him?
It goes without saying, a mere Lv.1 adventurer facing a Minotaur alone, no matter how skilled his combat techniques were, there was no chance he could survive.
As for resisting or even defeating the Minotaur...
Hahaha, even the most exaggerated heroic tales wouldn't write it like that.
How could such a thing possibly happen?
The vertical passage between floors quickly came to an end.
The adventurers checked their equipment, then unhesitatingly filed into the fifth floor.
As the core force of the entire labyrinth city, they showed no fear towards the Minotaur Lili mentioned.
Confident and high-spirited smiles bloomed on everyone's faces.
However, the next moment, the smiles on their faces collectively froze.
"This... What exactly is going on?"
Someone's questioning voice greatly shook the adventurers' nerves.
Upon stepping into the corridor in front of the fifth-floor vertical passage, what was revealed before their eyes was a scene completely different from the usual Dungeon.
Dark-colored blood splattered wantonly on the inner walls of the cave, like grotesque and eerie murals.
In the air, the thick smell of blood stimulated the nasal passages, making one feel a heavy stone pressing on their chest.
The passage was littered with monster corpses, piled up like mountains because the Magic Stones hadn't been removed in time.
It was clear these corpses were still fresh, likely just died, the Dungeon hadn't even begun to devour them yet.
And beyond these corpses, further away, were even more numerous, living monsters, currently engaged in battle with an adventurer.
No, strictly speaking, it wasn't a battle...
It was the adventurer unilaterally slaughtering the monsters.
He was a man of medium height, with pure black short hair, quite rare in Orario.
The man wore a black long coat, wielding a pitch-black one-handed straight sword, reaping the lives of monsters like cutting weeds.
Witnessing the black-clothed man's monster-killing speed, and the exquisite, chillingly murderous sword techniques he used, all the adventurers simultaneously felt a coldness spread throughout their bodies.
Who is this person?
What is he doing on the fifth floor?
What about that Minotaur, has he already dealt with it?
Just as everyone felt utterly confused, they heard their employer's voice, choked with surprise and tears.
"Luke-sama!"
Luke?
That Lv.1 adventurer Luke, who was forced to be trapped on the same floor with the Minotaur, who should have been dead already?
What kind of joke is this!
How could a Lv.1 adventurer deal with a Minotaur? How could he fight such a large number of monsters simultaneously?
How could he... swing his sword so fast, so powerfully?
Looking at the speed of his sword strikes, it was even faster than many Lv.2 adventurers.
His Agility attribute must be at least D...
No, it should have reached C rank, right?
A Lv.1 adventurer, yet his sword speed is comparable to a Lv.2, Agility C rank upper-tier adventurer?
And his sword technique, just watching it could make one's hair stand on end.
Every strike, not only was the technique almost flawless, but the blade's edge also contained a bone-chilling killing intent.
Perhaps even many great swordmasters who had immersed themselves in the way of the sword for a lifetime couldn't deliver such imposing and sharp slashes, right?
Such a person, is actually a Lv.1 bottom-tier adventurer?
Hearing Lili's call, Luke glanced sideways, revealing a smile towards her amidst the monster encirclement.
"Lili, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and work!"
"..."
The joyful mood, originally buoyed by seeing Luke alive, instantly cooled down with his words.
Watching Luke's clean and efficient movements as he continuously killed monsters, Lili wrinkled her nose and kicked Bell, who was standing beside her with a face full of admiration for Luke.
"Ouch—! Lili, why did you kick me again?"
Rubbing his painfully kicked shin vigorously, Bell stared dissatisfiedly at Lili, feeling that this Pallum girl had a really terrible temper, always kicking people at the slightest provocation.
"No reason, just feeling unhappy, so I wanted to kick something."
Casually finding an excuse, Lili crouched down, took out her dagger, and started collecting Magic Stones from the monster corpses.
At the same time, she looked up and glared at Bell, who was still staring at her.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up and help!"
"Oh oh..."
Hearing Lili's request, Bell nodded and also crouched down to get busy.
...
Ever since killing that Minotaur on the fifth floor, Luke became famous.
Perhaps stimulated by witnessing the feat of a Lv.1 adventurer grinding monsters alone, those adventurers hired by Lili to the fifth floor, upon returning to Orario, grabbed anyone they saw and started recounting what they had witnessed, blowing Luke up into an invincible god of war.
Things like single-handedly fighting a Minotaur, slaughtering an entire floor with one man and one sword, tearing apart Lv.4 and Lv.5 adventurers with bare hands, shaking the atmosphere and causing the ground to collapse with a mere gesture...
The first two were okay, at least they were facts, but the later exaggerations were complete nonsense.
Thanks to these bizarre rumors, Luke almost became the laughingstock of Orario's tea time conversations, and in a negative way at that.
What truly made Luke famous throughout Orario was another, more important reason—he finally advanced to Lv.2.
Actually, back when he chopped off the Minotaur's head, Luke had already received a system notification, informing him that he had successfully achieved a great deed, met the conditions for adventurer leveling, and asking if he wanted to level up.
However, considering that normally adventurers need their Familia's diety to help update their status to level/rank up, Luke had to temporarily suppress the urge to agree to the upgrade.
The day he came out of the Dungeon, he immediately returned to the tavern to find Hestia to update his status.
From joining the Hestia Familia and receiving the [Falna], to becoming a Lv.2 adventurer, Luke only took a little over half a month.
Before him, the fastest individual record for leveling from Lv.1 to Lv.2 was set by the Sword Princess of the Loki Familia, Ais Wallenstein, taking a total of one year.
This shocked the entire adventurer community of Orario at the time, and its influence radiated from Orario to the whole world, sparking heated discussions for a long time.
And Luke, now forcibly shortened this record to half a month.
For a time, the entire Orario was praising his name and that of his Goddess.
—[Hestia's Young Blade]
That's what people called him.
When Luke learned from the white-haired brat Bell that he actually had such an embarrassing nickname, he was so ashamed and angry that he almost grabbed his sword and charged into the streets.
See this?
I'm a dignified adult man!
What the hell is Young Blade!
However, seemingly apart from Luke, everyone else seemed quite satisfied with this nickname, finding it very imposing...
In short, Luke became famous, very famous.
His feat of killing a Minotaur alone while still Lv.1 was also confirmed by a certain beastman girl who wished to remain anonymous.
For a time, Upper Floor Killer God, Monster Hunter, Black Devil...
Although there was still some time before the Denatus, many people had already started speculating what kind of title/alias Luke would receive.
Some sharp-nosed merchants even started betting pools in the underground black market for Luke's title.
The number of people placing bets daily was overwhelming.
Among them was a brat completely shrouded in a robe, revealing only a pair of crimson eyes, with a rather childish voice, who would come almost every day carrying a thick stack of titles to place bets...
It was unknown which large Familia's young master he was; in just a few days, he had placed tens of thousands of Valis in bets, acting incredibly lavishly.
And at the center of all the whirlpools, facing the thoughts and comments of others, whether good or bad, sincere or with ulterior motives, Luke continued his daily routine: church, tavern, Dungeon, a three-point line.
The deeper he inherited the [Black Swordsman] class, the more fascinated he became with the sword in his hand, as if an instinct called [Swordsman] had awakened within his body—just swinging the blade brought joy and ease from the soul, without any feeling of boredom.
At the same time, as his level rose to Lv.2, his various physical abilities also began to slowly improve.
However, this time without the system's infusion-style help, the speed of improvement was excessively slow, often taking several days, even more than ten days, for a single point increase.
However, compared to the slowly improving base stats, the inheritance of the [Black Swordsman] was becoming smoother.
As his understanding of the sword continuously deepened, the sharp feeling that Luke constantly radiated outwards gradually became peaceful and upright.
It hadn't disappeared, just retracted.
Like a sharp sword returned to its sheath, quietly nurturing its edge.
In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed since Luke became famous in Orario.
In the outer poor district, a brown-walled, spire-topped church appeared somewhat hazy and dreamlike in the early morning sunlight.
Inside the church, a pure white statue stood on the altar, dressed in a floor-length gown, hands held together in front of her chest in a blessing posture, her serene and exquisite face identical to Hestia's.
Luke was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed on one of the long wooden pews used for worship.
He was still dressed in the same black clothes and black sword outfit from his first time entering the Dungeon, but the feeling he gave off had changed, becoming deep and silent.
"Thump thump thump—"
Behind the altar, the steps leading to the basement suddenly echoed.
Luke opened his eyes, just in time to see Hestia's petite figure.
Compared to her usual casual attire, Hestia was dressed very formally today.
The pure white dress excellently highlighted the key points of her figure.
And today was also the day of the [Denatus], held once every three months.
Looking at Hestia, radiating unparalleled divine beauty under the morning light, even though he had been spending time with her day and night recently, Luke still felt somewhat breathless.
This kind of sacred beauty, noble beauty, striking the soul from within, was truly hard to resist.
After a moment of daze, Luke showed a smile.
"Good morning, Kami-sama."
(PS: Sorry, I forgot to upload these chapters in the past few days...)
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