I'm in a mess, starting with a meteor shower!

"Are these three things combined enough to constitute a significant achievement?"

Ryu had to admit that these things combined had made a huge contribution!

"It's huge!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka asked again.

"Could we use this achievement to bring my elder back?"

Ryu was stunned for a moment, then looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka in surprise.

"Are you doing all this to bring your predecessors back?"

"Of course!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded affirmatively and looked at Ryu with a smile.

"On one hand, it's to achieve my justice and make the Astrea Familia great again; on the other hand, it's for my ancestor. My ancestor has lived in Orario in anonymity for so many years, it's time to let her come home."

Ryu looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka with emotion. Her junior had worked so hard for her, and as his senior, she couldn't let him down!

She excitedly slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

"Let me help you!"

However, this excitement was extinguished by a single sentence from Fujimaru Ritsuka.

"What are you helping me with?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka crossed her arms again.

"You accompanied me all day throughout Orario, and you didn't work a single day!"

"You still have to go to work at Fengrao House tomorrow! Don't you care about your job? You're just abandoning Manager Mia?"

"Um..."

Ryuton, who had been extremely excited, immediately wilted.

That's true. I can't just keep giving up my job at the shop. Manager Mia has taken me in for so long, I can't just abandon my job right away. Especially now, my identity in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka is that of the mistress of the house, a Level 1 new adventurer belonging to the Artemis Familia. I need to hide my identity until Fujimaru Ritsuka achieves her goals.

Liu clutched his head, utterly dejected. He had just thought he shouldn't hold anyone back, but he had ended up doing so.

"Alright, oh, you don't need to be so disappointed."

Seeing Ryu's dejected look, Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled and spoke.

"As promised, I will go directly to Mistress Fengrao to find you after I return from the dungeon."

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the store!"

P.S.: Please add to your favorites and recommend!

Volume 1: Chapter 23. Re-entering the Dungeon

Early the next morning, Fujimaru Ritsuka set off from her clan's residence to the dungeon to farm experience and magic stones.

Liu didn't go to the underground city with them. Instead, she went to work at the Hungry Lady's place as agreed. She hadn't worked all day yesterday, so she had to go back and make up for the work she missed.

Although Aunt Mia is a very nice person, she is very serious and strict about her work. She is very serious about running the restaurant, Fengrao, so Ryu has to do a good job today.

Before setting off, Ryu insisted on making a bento for Fujimaru Ritsuka to take and eat in the dungeon. However, given Ryu's previous experience of turning sandwiches into charcoal and her almost conceptually disastrous cooking skills, Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't have high hopes for the lunch she made. But to put Ryu at ease, Fujimaru Ritsuka accepted the lunchbox Ryu handed her, intending to wait until they reached the dungeon to see what surprise awaited them.

After entering the dungeon, Fujimaru Ritsuka did not spend time on the monsters on the upper dungeons, floors 1 to 12. The last time she came in was just a test. After all, it was her first time in the dungeon, and Fujimaru Ritsuka definitely wanted to find out how strong the dungeon was.

However, the conclusion was that none of the monsters on the upper level could withstand the massive explosion of Chen Gong's clones, which were enhanced by his magic power. A clone with only 5% magic power was enough to kill all those monsters.

Under these circumstances, it would be very inefficient to waste magic on them, so after entering the dungeon, Fujimaru Ritsuka directly used the aura of Hundred-Faced Hassan to blend into the shadows of the dungeon, avoiding the low-level monsters along the way. Without the monsters noticing her at all, she passed through the 12th floor that she had already opened on the first day and arrived at the 13th floor.

[Cleared level 12 and obtained 3 Saint Quartz]

The moment he reached the 13th floor, a system notification popped up in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes, indicating that he had cleared the 12th floor. However, Fujimaru Ritsuka paid no attention to it, as his gaze was already drawn to the scenery before him.

Giant rock walls, gray-white ground, and pitch-black shadows everywhere—compared to the previous underground caves, this place feels more like a maze, truly giving off the vibe of an underground city rather than a cave.

"So this is the cave labyrinth?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka stood with one hand on her hip, looking around.

The dungeons have different features depending on the environment of each floor.

For example, floors 1 to 5 are basic caves that look no different from underground caves and are very small. The area of ​​the subsequent floors begins to expand, but they are still basically cave-style with little variation.

Starting from the 10th floor, the dungeon environment undergoes drastic changes. Floors 10-12 are the threshold for adventurers to enter the middle levels, as foggy areas begin to appear. In particular, on the 12th floor, the number of traps increases significantly. If you can successfully break through the double traps and monsters, you can reach the 13th floor. From the 13th floor onwards, it becomes the realm of LV2.

From here on, hellhounds, lizardmen, and the very famous Minotaur will be born.

These monsters are significantly stronger than those on the upper level; they are all powerful monsters that ordinary level 1 adventurers simply cannot handle alone. Correspondingly, the magic stones dropped by these monsters are of much higher quality than those dropped by monsters on the upper level.

"Then, let's take a look... hmm?"

Just as Fujimaru Ritsuka was about to move to find the monster, she turned her head to look at the shadow in the corner not far away and found a lizardman staring coldly at her with its eyes. The moment it realized that it had been exposed, the lizardman pounced on Fujimaru Ritsuka.

Fujimaru Ritsuka raised her hand and materialized a red longbow with her magic, then drew the bow and shot an arrow at the lizardman in mid-air.

The arrow, like a bullet from a large-caliber sniper rifle, struck the lizardman directly in the head, piercing through the top of his skull and shattering it.

The lizardman's body fell directly to the ground, crashing in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka. His limbs twitched briefly before he went still.

Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't rush to retrieve the magic stone. Instead, she looked down and around to make sure she hadn't stepped on any traps.

"It seems they discovered it by its smell."

Lizards possess a chemical sense of smell, enabling them to detect enemies through the power of scent in the air. Even if Fujimaru Ritsuka tries to conceal her scent, it will still be detected by her, making it an unavoidable physical problem.

"This is much more powerful than the monsters above."

Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the lizardman's corpse on the ground and began to think.

"If lizardmen can do this, I wonder if hellhounds can also find me by their noses?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a commotion came from around the corner not far away. Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced over and, thanks to his innate ability to see far into the distance, he clearly saw the Hellhound staring at him from around the corner, its two eyes flashing red.

"They really do have a dog's nose."

While making sarcastic remarks, Fujimaru Ritsuka drew her bow and nocked an arrow, firing it the instant the hellhound charged around the corner.

The powerful arrow pierced the hellhound's skull, shattering it completely. The hellhound collapsed halfway through its charge, its corpse sliding across the ground until it stopped right in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka, flanking the lizardman's corpse on either side.

The power of a great hero is terrifying!

Fujimaru Ritsuka put away her longbow and looked at the two corpses on the ground.

"It seems that the effect of concealing one's aura is much less here."

Hassan's aura concealment can hide him from magicians, making him difficult to detect, but it is ultimately only effective against humans. The lizardman and the hellhound are different; one senses scent by smell and the other by smell, so there's really no way to detect them.

Compared to the monsters that were blown to pieces on the upper level, the two monsters killed by Fujimaru Ritsuka with her bow and arrows did not immediately disappear because they were not completely blown to pieces. The monsters on the upper level were all directly blown to pieces by Fujimaru Ritsuka's self-destruction, and there was basically no possibility of preserving their corpses.

In dungeons, if a monster's body is intact and its stamina magic stone has not been shattered, it will not disappear immediately after death. It will take some time for the corpse to turn into dust and be collected by the dungeon. Alternatively, adventurers can manually peel off the magic stone, and the corpse will immediately turn into dust because it has lost the magic power supply from the magic stone.

Besides being able to peel off magic stones, it also has a chance to drop various materials, which are key items for Orario's blacksmiths or alchemists to craft equipment and make potions.

Now, it is also a key tool that Fujimaru Ritsuka uses to create magical costumes!

Fujimaru Ritsuka conjured Hassan's dagger, dug open the hellhound's corpse, and took out the magic stone from it. As the magic stone was removed, the hellhound's corpse turned into dust and dissipated, leaving behind its fire-resistant hellhound fur and its hellhound heart, which could be used to make magic-enhancing potions.

As for the lizardmen, they left nothing behind after the magic stone was removed.

Looking at the materials in front of her, especially the heart of the hellhound, Fujimaru Ritsuka frowned slightly.

"Now I understand why the profession of supporter exists."

Volume 1: Chapter 24. Lily the Supporter

The last time Fujimaru Ritsuka came to the dungeon, all she saw were the magic stones. The magic stones dropped by the monsters in the upper levels weren't very big, so she only needed a small bag to collect them.

However, once you reach the middle level, especially when you need to collect materials, the small bag that can only be used to hold magic stones becomes very inadequate. At this point, it becomes very difficult for adventurers to carry away a large amount of materials on their own, because materials take up a lot of space. How can you fight powerful monsters while carrying a huge pile of materials?

Therefore, at this time, support personnel who can carry materials are needed.

Supporters are a special profession among adventurers.

Like other adventurers, they were blessed by the gods to venture into the dungeons, but among adventurers, they were not skilled in combat.

Unlike combat-type adventurers who awaken various combat skills, supporters mostly awaken auxiliary skills, which are also very much geared towards combat, allowing them to take on logistical roles within the team.

For example, the team's supplies are handled by supporters who help carry them while the combat adventurers fight and kill monsters. The supporters then collect materials and magic stones from the monsters and carry them in their giant backpacks, allowing the team to obtain supplies without affecting the combat adventurers' battles.

"So, I need to go back now and find someone to help me load the cargo."

Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced at the materials on the ground, then at herself. She only had a small backpack she carried with her, which contained the lunchbox Ryu had prepared and a small pouch for magic stones. There was no room to put these materials in there.

"Tch, let's find a place to put it first."

Fujimaru Ritsuka picked up the magic stone and put it into her small pocket, while she picked up the remaining materials and hid them in a corner.

After all, he couldn't be traveling while carrying the fur and heart of a hellhound in his hands.

After hiding the materials, Fujimaru Ritsuka turned around and went back to the 12th floor. He needed to hire a supporter to help him collect the materials.

Once back on the 12th floor, the aura concealment function returned, and Fujimaru Ritsuka no longer needed to worry about being discovered by the monsters, allowing her to pass through each floor without participating in any battles.

However, when passing the eighth floor, some unexpected things happened.

As Fujimaru Ritsuka concealed himself in the darkness, preparing to quietly pass through the floors, a group of adventurers suddenly emerged from a corner. Unaware of Fujimaru Ritsuka's presence, they rushed past him in a panic.

After they rushed past, a huge group of rabbits charged from behind, so numerous that they filled the entire road.

The unique monster on the eighth floor is the giant hare, a ferocious rabbit that can reach half a meter in height. It looks weak when it is alone, but there are a lot of them! They always appear in groups, and their numerical advantage makes up for their inferior quality.

The group of adventurers who had run away earlier were obviously being chased by this large swarm of rabbits. What made Fujimaru Ritsuka speechless was that there were so many rabbits that they filled the passageway, which meant that unless Fujimaru Ritsuka was hanging from the ceiling, she would definitely be bumped into by the rabbits.

Fujimaru Ritsuka, who was walking normally, had no choice but to run faster.

However, he hadn't run far when one of the adventurers who had just escaped suddenly fell to the ground. Judging from the huge backpack on his back, he could basically identify himself as a support member of the team!

After the supporter fell to the ground, the remaining adventurers not only did not stop to save him, but ran even faster, clearly indicating that the supporter had been abandoned.

Fujimaru Ritsuka frowned, then immediately released Hassan the Hundred Faces' Noble Phantasm.

A clone appeared beside Fujimaru Ritsuka, and the clone turned around and drew its bow to shoot an arrow the moment it appeared.

Stella!

An arrow was fired, and a massive explosion erupted in the passageway. Flames and smoke instantly filled the entire passage, obscuring the figures of Fujimaru Ritsuka and the supporter from view.

The adventurers ahead, seeing the sudden explosion, showed only slight surprise but made no attempt to stop, quickly disappearing from the end of the passage.

After the smoke in the passage dissipated, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the supporter reappeared. The giant hare herd that had been chasing them had disappeared, leaving only a pit on the ground and a batch of magic stones scattered inside the pit.

Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't rush to pick up the magic stone, but instead looked down at the supporter who was lying on the ground, panting heavily.

Based on the sudden collapse of the supporter and the quickening of the escape route by the adventurers, Fujimaru Ritsuka could basically conclude that the supporter had been abandoned and used as bait.

In modern times, supporters are considered a logistical unit and a very important part of a team. However, in Orario, this magical place, supporters have a very low status!

Except for a few large clans that cultivate and respect their supporters, most clans treat their supporters as laborers who can be used and discarded at any time.

Especially the adventurer teams that randomly form groups in Babel Square, they will randomly find a supporter to hire, not only paying them very little, but also throwing the supporter out as bait when danger comes, and then running away themselves. That was the case with the adventurer team just now.

"It's all cleaned up now. Are you alright?"

"I...I'm fine."

The supporter answered while panting, and after catching her breath for a while, she finally looked up at Fujimaru Ritsuka.

"Thank you very much for your help."

Although she didn't know what had just happened, she was certain that the man in front of her had helped her.

"My name is Lily, and I am a supporter."

Fujimaru Ritsuka was taken aback after hearing the other person's self-introduction.

"What did you say your name was?"

"Sir, my name is Lily."

"I'm not an adult."

Fujimaru Ritsuka waved her hand.

"My name is Fujimaru Ritsuka."