Year 1451, month 10, day 08

  The next morning arrived with the same disciplined quiet that had come to define our household routine. We moved through our established preparations with a silent, practiced efficiency—breakfast was prepared and eaten, dishes were scrubbed until they shone, and our equipment was checked and double-checked for any signs of wear or loose straps. Once we were fully geared and the house was in order, we departed for the canyon northeast of the city. I didn't want to waste time on the walk today, as I knew the deeper floors would demand more of our energy, so I opted for the ‘Warp’ skill once again. In a shimmer of mana, we vanished from the alleyway and manifested instantly at the entrance of the eighth floor. The air here was noticeably different from the upper levels—dry and filled with the faint, sharp scent of ozone. Our goal for today was to clear both the eighth and ninth floors. Since the deeper floors naturally require more time for both navigation and combat, we started our grind as soon as possible, pushing into the dark, jagged corridors without a second of hesitation.

  I had devised a specific strategy for the eighth floor. This level was primarily the habitat of mantis-type monsters. Individually, a lone mantis wasn't an overwhelming threat for the girls, especially now that I had upgraded their gear to steel, but these creatures were notoriously dangerous when they appeared in groups. They were incredibly agile, possessing long, razor-sharp scythes for forearms and the ability to perform sudden, erratic maneuvers that could easily catch an inexperienced fighter off guard. I knew Woya and Wyn would have to act with extreme caution to avoid being carved up. My plan for this floor was simple: if we encountered a lone mantis, I would leave the enemy entirely to them. Woya would step forward to catch the heavy scythe strikes on her iron shield, holding the creature’s attention while Wyn circled for a killing blow from the flank. However, if the mantises appeared in pairs, I would immediately step in and take one of them for myself. I would handle my target while leaving the sisters to deal with the other. I was fairly certain that if Wyn truly pushed herself, she could defeat a mantis alone, but I was less confident in Woya’s ability to solo such a fast opponent. Regardless of their potential, I wasn't willing to take the risk. Even with their reinforced equipment, a single mistake against a mantis could result in a debilitating injury, and it was always better to be safe than sorry when it came to the well-being of my property.

  As I had planned, we advanced steadily, defeating every mantis that dared to cross our path toward the boss room. Although these monsters were dangerous because of their speed and those lethal scythes, they were also relatively quick to finish. They were built for offense, not defense; as long as you could time your strike properly and land a clean hit on their thorax or joints, they tended to crumble with satisfying ease. On our way deeper into the level, we encountered a few other adventuring parties. Most of them were full parties, consisting of six people in a balanced formation. Contrary to our efficient progress, these groups seemed to be struggling. The main point of their hardship was their own fear; they were so consciously trying to avoid the lightning-fast attacks of the mantises that they couldn't find the necessary openings to strike back. Because they had the superior numbers, they could eventually defeat the monsters by encircling them, but it was a slow and reluctant process that wasted a lot of their stamina.

  Some of the groups stopped to observe us as we hunted, provided they had a moment of leisure between their own fights. Their reactions were varied and often amusing to witness. Some stared in confusion, wondering why someone as strong as me—a man who could cleave a mantis in two, scythe and all, with a single casual slash of a two-handed sword—would be wasting time on such a low floor. Others focused more on the girls, likely concluding that I was a high-level raider in the middle of a personal training session. I am sure there were even a few who looked at the girls' beauty and my protective stance and assumed I was just some pervert showing off his skills to impress his slaves. I ignored them all. Under the curious eyes of our fellow dungeon divers, we finally managed to reach the boss room at the end of the corridor. I felt a slight twinge of worry about this specific battle. The boss would be even faster and stronger than the regular mantises, which were already reaching the limit of what the girls could handle comfortably.

  I decided that for this boss, we would fight as a trio, though I intended to let the girls do the majority of the physical work. This way, I could provide immediate assistance if the situation turned sour. We waited in line behind three other parties, and when they had finished their attempts, it was finally our turn. We stepped into the large chamber, and the heavy doors groaned shut behind us. I unsheathed my Bastion sword and moved into position, taking the left side while Woya held the center and Wyn moved to the right. We let Woya take the first engagement, bracing her shield for the boss's initial lunge. As the monster struck the wood, I stepped in and poked the creature’s right side with the tip of my blade. It wasn't a killing blow, but it was enough of a threat to force the monster to instinctively dodge toward its left.

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  Wyn was waiting exactly where I had funneled the beast. She was holding both of her steel swords in a ready position—her right sword held across her body to her left and her left sword to her right, as if she were embracing something. As the boss mantis lunged into her range, she unleashed the left sword in a sharp, slicing arc. The monster was fast, managing to twist its body at the last possible moment so that only its left scythe was severed. But Wyn wasn't done; she had deliberately refrained from using both swords at once, keeping her right blade in reserve for the true finishing blow. She swung her second sword toward the monster’s moving trajectory, anticipating its attempt to recover. The steel bit deep into the part where the legs connected to the body. Since her old iron weapons had been replaced with steel ones and the mantis possessed very little in the way of natural defense, the strike easily severed both of its legs. It was clear she had intentionally crippled the boss rather than killing it, leaving the final strike for me. She had excellent control over her movements in combat, a trait I found very promising.

  Even Woya remained in full focus throughout the encounter, her lack of battle experience compensated for by a sharp, instinctive awareness. I had initially thought they were just trying their best not to disappoint me, but I began to suspect this level of focus might be a characteristic trait of the wolfkin. Once the boss monster fell helplessly to the stone floor, I moved to finish it. I raised my sword but then paused, deciding to test my magic instead. Since the creature had lost its legs and one of its scythes, it was no longer a threat to anyone. I held my heavy two-handed sword in just my left hand, the weight negligible thanks to my stats, and chanted the words for a wind spell. A series of translucent wind blades manifested and tore into the boss’s body. I had expected the creature to be shredded instantly, given its low level, but the spell only barely managed to finish it off. The reason for this could be my own lack of proficiency with elemental magic, or perhaps mantis-type monsters possess a high natural resistance to the wind element, which would explain their high-speed attack patterns. Regardless, the blades left deep cuts in its joints, and the boss monster finally started to disintegrate, dropping 3 silver and 60 copper Obscuras.

  “Good job, girls,” I said, looking at the glowing motes of light. As soon as the coins hit the floor, Woya ran to collect them, following my previous instructions to the letter. Wyn offered a graceful bow to show her gratitude for the compliment and then moved to a quiet corner of the room to prepare the provisions we would be eating. When Woya returned from her collection duties, we all sat down on the cold stone and ate our meal in a comfortable silence. After we had finished and Wyn had tidied up the utensils, we didn't get up right away. I wanted to use our resting time to brief them on what to expect from the ninth floor. I explained that the ninth floor was actually much safer than the eighth in terms of raw danger. The monsters there didn't have the lightning-fast, consecutive attacks of the mantises, but they were significantly more durable. The specialty of the ninth floor was the coordination of the orcs. Orcs are a bit more clever than your average dungeon monster, and fighting them feels much more like fighting a human or a humanoid beastkin.

  Once we were rested, we descended to the ninth floor. I let the girls handle the orcs entirely, whether they appeared alone or with companions. Since I was supervising from a close distance and could easily block a lethal attack if necessary, I wanted them to get a feel for defeating humanoid opponents, as if they were fighting against bandits in the outside world. I had noticed during my previous solo runs that many adventurers struggled to finish orcs because they resembled people too closely, leading to a hesitation that could be fatal. I was curious to see how the sisters would react, and as always, they did a wonderful job. They didn't see people; they saw enemies that needed to be put down. Watching them follow orders and fight through the fatigue made me feel as if I were hunting with two incredibly loyal companions. I found myself wondering what it would be like to have other beastkin races in my party—dragonkins or others, if they even existed in this region. I thought briefly of Namo, my late catkin slave. He had been obedient, but he lacked the eager, proactive fire that Woya and Wyn displayed. Perhaps he would have developed it in time, but he had died before we could reach that level of trust.

  As we moved toward the ninth-floor boss room, the girls' efficiency continued to increase. They struggled against the orcs’ strength at first, taking a long time to whittle them down, but they gradually grew accustomed to the monsters' fighting patterns and began to coordinate their strikes perfectly. Along the way, I used my magic to heal the slight injuries they sustained, ensuring they stayed in peak condition and letting them rest whenever they needed to catch their breath. After a considerably longer time than we had spent on the eighth floor, we finally reached the end of the floor. To my surprise, the line for the boss room was short; only two groups were waiting ahead of us, despite the ninth floor generally being more popular with raiders. We waited for less than half an hour before the doors opened, and we stepped inside, ready for the girls to give their real performance against the floor's guardian.

  [Edited]

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  Heroes:

  Aymeric Petiaux

  Koreyn