OBS Chapter 288 Advancing Dungeon Exploration
Chapter 288 Advancing Dungeon Exploration
Chapter 288 Advancing Dungeon Exploration
The Garden of Stars.
Roy and Astrea decided to give the catgirl an interview—an interview, not a direct pass; Roy would have to meet her in person.
But before they could send the letter, the catgirl was picked up by Ryu and the others who were out shopping.
Anya Fromo, around nineteen years old, about 1.5 meters tall, petite and delicate, with orange hair, fluffy cat ears and a cat tail hanging behind her, wearing a light green tavern uniform, a white apron and maid's headdress, but it was all dirty, covered in dust and dirt, as were her cheeks.
His golden eyes were dull and lifeless, and every muscle on his face was stiff and expressionless, like a wooden puppet.
"Don't move, I'm washing your hair!"
"This cat's tail is amazing."
"ha--!"
Ryu, Tione, and Daphne took the orange-haired catgirl to the bathing room to wash her. Through the glass door, they could see her graceful figure shimmering inside.
The sounds of girls splashing and playing in the water drifted over.
No one knows who grabbed the cat girl's tail, which prompted the other party to hiss fiercely.
In the spacious hall, Roy and Astraea's eyes met in the air, each seeing a fleeting look of wariness in the other's eyes.
It's too much of a coincidence.
They had just decided to interview Anya when Ryu "bumped into" her on the street and took her in.
This confirmed Roy's initial unease when he first saw the application form: LV.4 adventurers are welcome everywhere.
She chose to join the Astrea Familia.
A short while later, Ryu, Tione, and the others helped Anya change into a clean set of clothes and came out.
Astrea's Familia has many girls, each with a different figure, so there's bound to be one that suits Anya. A loose-fitting nightgown draped casually over Anya's slender shoulders, one side already slipped down, partially revealing her fair, rosy, rounded shoulder—it was incredibly cute, especially if you didn't notice her utterly lost expression—
Upon entering the living room, Anya sat in her designated spot, facing the two interviewers—Roy and Astrea. Meanwhile, Ryu and the others, having heard that the catgirl was going to join the group, hid in a corner to secretly observe.
Roy placed the application form on the table and said, "Miss Anya, I've seen your information. Why do you want to become an adventurer again?"
Thirteen-year-old Anya left the Freya Familia and worked as a shop assistant at "The Abundant Mistress" for six years, by which time she was already LV.4.
Synchronization Contract!
Roy spoke slowly, glancing subtly at Ryu in the corner, who was startled.
Anya's expression darkened. "My friend Seele is Lady Freya—I can't stay in that place any longer—"
Upon hearing this, Roy remained unmoved.
He exposed Freya's disguise and put her in Anya's shoes. Six years ago, Freya abandoned and expelled her from the Familia. In the end, the person who abandoned her disguised herself and came to befriend her, treating her life as a game and making a mess of it.
Betrayed twice in a row, he was heartbroken.
Roy said calmly, "Miss Anya, so you don't want to become an adventurer again, but rather you want to find a place to stay?"
Tiony, Daphne, and the others hiding in the corner felt that these words were rather sharp, like tearing open someone's wound and then rubbing salt into it.
Ryu pursed her lips. She could understand; for the sake of her clan, no amount of caution was excessive.
Anya replied, "Meow doesn't know either—"
"At LV.4, you should be welcomed by any familia, so why do you want to join the Astrea familia?" Roy continued to ask.
When Tione and Tiona arrived in Orario, they were only LV.3, yet they still caused quite a stir, with various familias extending olive branches to them. Anya, on the other hand, was a genuine LV.4 adventurer, and even had the support of a major clan (Freya's familia).
Internship experience is something even the Loki Familia wouldn't refuse.
Of course, the two cannot be generalized.
Tiony and Tiona have no connections and are clean backgrounds, so hiring them won't cause any trouble.
However, it's uncertain whether Anya will be recruited; the various clans will also need to consider Freya's thoughts.
Anya looked at Ryu in the corner, "I saw them on the street before, and I was so happy. I like that feeling. I want family—"
Roy frowned, sensing that the answer was somewhat irrelevant. "We are, after all, an exploration-type Familia. Can you still enter dungeons to fight?"
Anya's face was pale. "Meow, I'm so scared."
Roy looked at the goddess Astraea, who gently shook her head, showing no sign of lying.
The interview questions and answers have now come to an end. Anya's performance was not very good. She presented the image of a confused, hesitant, and painful girl. Apart from her LV.4 ability, she had no other strengths.
But it must be said that this operation precisely targeted the heart of the goddess Astrea.
If she can't even save such a pitiful girl, what kind of goddess is she who governs "justice"?
Roy stood up, walked up to Anya, extended a large hand to her, and smiled warmly, "The Astrea Familia welcomes you."
Anya grasped Roy's outstretched hand, somewhat incredulous that she had been accepted so easily.
Subsequently, Astraea converted Anya to Christianity.
When Freya abandoned Anya six years ago, Freya had already prepared her for conversion, meaning she could switch sides at any time, but she chose to stay at the tavern.
Astraea's divine blood dripped onto Anya's back, causing ripples that spread silently.
Anya's grace caused countless sacred words to emerge, forming her power stats. Astrea imprinted these on a piece of white paper, and Freya's image transformed into a sword of justice and snow-white wings on either side.
"Yay, a new comrade!"
Tione, Daphne, and the others cheered and showed Anya around the Star Garden.
Once a new clan is joined, one cannot convert again within a year. This is a rule set by the gods, meaning that Anya must spend at least a year with them.
The hall was left for the girls to play and laugh. Astraea went to Roy's room. "What do you think?"
Roy casually put his arm around the goddess's slender waist. "Aren't you happy about recruiting new members?"
"Don't make fun of me now," Astraea couldn't help but roll her eyes at Roy.
Roy's smile faded, and he shook his head. "It's hard to say for sure, but they don't seem to have good intentions!"
At the start of the interview, he used the Synchronization Contract to gain Ryu's stats and skills.
The main reason is Ryu's "Inheritance of Justice," which enhances skill effects and improves mental strength. Inheritance of Justice elevates his "Intuition" skill to a whole new level.
Roy sensed something was off through his "intuition," but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
"I'm sorry to have made you all go through with my nonsense." A hint of guilt appeared on Astraea's gentle face.
"If you really feel guilty, then repay me with your body. I don't mind." Roy grinned mischievously and hugged the goddess's body even tighter.
"You wish! Hehehehe!"
Astraea turned around and easily broke free from Roy's grasp. With light steps, she slipped out of the room, leaving only a burst of giggles behind.
In terms of close combat skills, Roy couldn't even come close to the goddess Astraea, who had been training for hundreds of millions of years, and could only watch helplessly as she slipped out of the room.
Roy shook his head and smiled, and didn't chase after them.
Refusing Anya's entry into the Familia is easy, but the mastermind behind it might not let it go. In that case, it's better to keep Anya around as a shield in a critical moment.
Roy knew that the truth behind Anya's abandonment was not that Freya was cold or heartless; on the contrary, Freya cared a lot about this little catgirl.
Roy picked up the papers Astraea had left behind, containing messages of Anya's kindness.
Most of their abilities are at level I or H.
After all, he had been working as a waiter in a tavern for the past six years, and his abilities had almost stagnated.
Development Abilities: Abnormal Resistance, Lancer, Hunter. Has two skills: increases agility during combat, and transforms into a humanoid megaphone when singing.
The second skill is an important auxiliary skill for magic.
Anya's magic, "Lost Kitten," greatly reduces everyone's stats and also weakens the target's skills and magic to some extent.
The effect of "Lost Kitten" can lower a character's level by at least half a level, making it quite powerful among Orario's few debuff spells!
The drawback is that it has no effect on anyone, teammates will also be affected, and the cooldown time is very long, more than half a day.
To make good use of this magic, Roy figured he'd have to go find "All-Powerful" Asphie for some extra work.
In order to defend against the songs of the Songbird and the Mermaid Monster, Asphie once developed a magical item—the "Silent Harp" earrings—that could block sonic attacks.
Astrea also updated Ryu and Haruhime's stats. During the Memory World War Alphia, Ryu's stats also increased to some extent, but since she was one level higher than Roy, her stats decreased relatively.
Unfortunately, that old geezer Odin didn't give them time.
Later, he had no choice but to use "level ascension," Roy grumbled, otherwise he and Ryu would have dragged the terminally ill Alphia to death sooner or later, which would have been enough to accomplish their great task.
As Roy predicted, through the trial of the gods and the effects of the immortal essence and flesh, Chun Ji's stats all increased, her magic power reached A-level, and she leveled up to LV.2.
At LV.2, Haruhime's "Level Up" can be applied to six people simultaneously. With subsequent increases in magic power, it can eventually reach nine people, with the duration increased to twenty minutes and the cooldown reduced to nine minutes.
During this time, Roy lived a very comfortable life, watering the World Tree sapling with the water from the Great Sacred Tree Spring he had seized. Its growth rate increased significantly, and in the blink of an eye, it had grown as tall as the roadside trees, lush and green, with several small flowers about to bloom.
Roy was filled with anticipation; surely the fruit from the World Tree couldn't be just ordinary fruit.
While planting trees, he searches for a way to revive himself, flirts with Ryu and the goddess Astrea in his daily life, and teases the girls in his kin from time to time.
Daphne, Cassandra, Lily, and Haruhime always blushed with embarrassment and ran away as if their lives depended on it, but they couldn't help but turn back to steal glances at Roy.
Roy only has trouble with Tione and Tiona, especially the former, who is quite proactive.
Anya no longer needed Roy to worry about her. She was often taken out to play by the enthusiastic and cheerful girls, and felt the warmth of the Astrea family. Her little face was no longer as tense as before.
No one can resist Astraea's motherly tenderness and Tiona's radiant smile.
Since taking over the development plan of the entertainment district, the guild has not dared to send the Astrea Familia on expeditions, after all, they still have more than a billion dollars invested in the entertainment district.
At first, it was just about shares, but later on, the construction of the shopping mall, attracting businesses, and recruiting people all required the guild's help.
The guild was busy with all sorts of things, and they didn't want to waste their time and effort.
Moreover, in the previous two expeditions, the first one involved encountering the enhanced mermaids and the floor master Amphispina, and the second one involved being besieged by the Dark Faction and the Ishtar Familia, and encountering the floor masters Udeos and Zagnat.
They almost suffered total annihilation twice.
Actually, the second time was no different from a total wipeout; it's just that Roy forcibly pulled everyone back using the Shikon Jewel and Tenseiga, a fact the guild was unaware of.
That's the case, and it's enough to make one's scalp tingle.
The guild is starting to suspect that their missions are cursed, or that the Astrea Familia is being targeted. To be on the safe side, they don't plan to send out missions anytime soon.
Although the guild was unwilling to let Astrea's Familia go on an expedition, they couldn't stop Roy from taking the initiative.
Unlike other clans that enter the dungeon to make money, the Astrea clan is not short of money. They have robbed several times and become extremely wealthy.
It was purely Roy's desire to explore and his adventurous spirit.
Thirty-seven stories, a white palace.
Ghostly flames flickered in the hollow eye sockets of the skeletal sheep, the lizardman elites flicked their forked tongues, the cunning wolves lowered their bodies to reveal their gleaming white fangs, and the heavy bodies of the obsidian soldiers scraped together with a grating sound—countless ferocious monsters, exuding an aura of bloodlust and savagery, surrounded Roy, Tione, and Tiona.
Those greedy and bloodthirsty glints, like tangible thorns, were firmly locked onto the three of them, and the air was filled with a chilling killing intent that could freeze blood!
"drink!"
The first thing to break the silence was the battle cry of the Amazon girl. Diona's eyes burned with a wild fighting spirit, and her superhuman strength erupted instantly.
She swung the heavy double blades with astonishing speed, tearing through the air with a muffled whistling sound!
The rotating trajectory formed a dense, impenetrable windmill, its sharp blades transforming into the blades of a meat grinder, mercilessly shredding any monsters that dared to approach, with severed limbs and blood splattering everywhere!
Almost at the same time that her younger sister took action.
Tione's figure also moved, transforming into a nimble and sharp lightning bolt. Without any fancy moves, she drew her twin blades from her waist with a backhand, her movements swift, accurate, and ruthless! Each flash of cold light precisely grazed a monster's vital part, namely its magic stone.
Bang!Bang!Bang!
Under their attack, large swathes of monsters turned to ashes, and magic stones rained down.
Just as the two Amazonian sisters charged into the monsters, unleashing a bloodbath, in a dark corner, a cunning monster covered in hard scales cleverly used its skin color to blend perfectly into the environment.
A sinister glint flashed in "Dragon Seed Peruda's" eyes, and a poisonous steel needle was about to be fired.
Sizzle! Sizzle!
Roy activated his magic, and violent magical power gathered in his palm, surging with dazzling golden lightning. He then flicked his wrist seemingly casually.
A golden bolt of lightning, condensed to its utmost and tearing through the sky, transformed into a spear of divine punishment and shot out with unparalleled precision at a speed beyond visual perception!
Before the dragon Peruda could even fire its steel needle, lightning struck its hideous head with lightning speed.
boom!!
A blinding burst of lightning erupted, accompanied by a short, mournful wail, and the treacherous dragon that had attempted to ambush the two sisters was blasted into countless fragments!
"Captain, thank you!" Tione rushed over and threw her soft, fragrant body into Roy's arms.
Roy smiled and patted the other's head.
Fortunately, most of the monsters on the 37th floor were skeletal and had no blood, otherwise Roy would have had a very difficult time carrying Tione, who was covered in blood.
Roy led his clan members to explore the dungeon in groups. The first group consisted of Tione and Tiona, followed by Daphne, Cassandra, and Lily.
Finally, it was him, Ryu, and Haruhime.
The team was simply divided into three squads. At least three people were needed to explore the dungeon, and Roy could not violate this rule. Of course, he could clear the upper, middle and lower levels by himself, but for the deeper levels, he had to form a team.
Rumble!!
Suddenly, the earth cracked open, sending rocks flying, accompanied by a deafening roar and billowing dust, as a giant serpent coiled deep underground appeared.
"Lemton" breaks through the ground!
Its massive, mountain-like body, covered in dark green scales, was revealed, casting a shadow that blotted out the sky.
The most chilling thing about the stench that rushed towards them was its gaping maw, churning with a nauseating stench. Its target was clear: the gaping maw of the abyss lunged fiercely at Roy.
Faced with a perilous situation that would terrify any ordinary adventurer, Roy remained unfazed, his eyes calm as still water.
Instead of dodging, Roy faced the oncoming maw with a powerful stomp, the air crackling as he shot forward.
boom!
Roy flipped over, his body arching like a bow, and kicked Lambton's jaw, which was covered in hard scales. A dull, muffled roar resounded, and the sickening sound of scales cracking could be faintly heard. The unstoppable Lambton was abruptly broken, and its huge snake head was kicked upwards by the enormous force, letting out a painful and angry hiss!
Roy moved swiftly and easily killed him.
This monster almost dragged him and Astrea into the deeper layers, causing quite a bit of trouble.
But now, Roy is a completely different person. At LV.5, his abilities completely overwhelm Lymton's.
The Lambtons are enormous and have incredible defense. While they can't be killed as easily as slicing vegetables, Roy can take them down in a few moves.
The same applies to the 37th floor. A team of three LV.5 adventurers can basically roam freely as long as they don't run into the floor master "Udeos".
Roy said, "Let's keep going!"
"yes!"
Tiony and Tiona followed closely behind Roy, all smiles and relaxed.
The structure of the 38th floor is almost the same as the 37th floor, with the same types of monsters. The overall stats have increased by two small levels, making it around LV.4 in difficulty and B-level in stats. However, since there is no floor master, it does not pose a significant threat to Roy and his group.
The 39th floor is a safe floor, named "Maze Gray Bridge". No one does business on the 28th floor, and it is even less likely that anyone will be on this floor.
At first glance, it was completely empty.
Even in the entire Orario, only a handful of clans can reach this floor, such as the Freya clan.
Loki's Kin and Ganesha's Kin, among others.
Stepping onto the gray bridge spanning the entire floor, Roy and his group entered the fortieth floor, from which the forty-third floor is known as the "Giants' Graveyard".
Rumble!
The earth rumbled, and one after another, skeletal giants emerged, reaching over ten meters in height, towering like mountains. They appeared to be similar in size to the Immaculate Giants of the Giant World, but in reality, the two were not comparable at all.
These skeletal giants have all stats approaching LV.5, making them enhanced versions of the Armored Titan.
Tiony and Tiona charged out without fear.
While Roy took Ryu and Haruhime on an adventure to the Great Tree Sea, the girls took initiative, formed their own teams, and have already conquered this floor.
Having obtained in-depth intelligence from Eina, with Lily as the commander, and Tione and Tiona, both LV5, and Daphne and Cassandra, both LV4, they fought their way through several floors.
If Roy had returned any later, they would have broken the previous Astrea Familia's exploration record (41st floor), which gave him a great surprise.
These girls in my family are so capable!
Roy, along with Tione and Tiona, killed monsters and drew maps, spending three days advancing to the forty-third floor and breaking the record for the Familia.
"Let's go back!" Roy said.
"Yay! Finally, I can eat Astraea's cooking!" Tiona smiled happily. Although the food Roy brought out was also made by Astraea and guaranteed to be fresh, it was the atmosphere that mattered.
"Eh~ I want to stay with the captain for a few more days." Tione said with a droopy face.
They took turns exploring the dungeon with Roy.
This time, Tiona continues to assist Lily in developing the entertainment district, while she also protects Astraea.
"There is a chance."
Roy comforted Tiony.
It's not like I'm going to risk my life and clear the dungeon overnight. This kind of thing has to be done step by step. My space ring is already full of precious materials and magic stones.
The group returned to the upper level.
Compared to other clans, Roy has a unique advantage: the power of the earth.
In the upper and middle levels, that is, the first twenty-four levels, there will be no battles. Other clans' expeditions will take a lot of time and resources just to cover this distance. Even for the Loki clan, it will take a whole day.
Roy planned the shortest route, avoiding any unexpected incidents and quickly passing through the upper and middle levels.