A new day dawned.
The sun was just barely peeking over Orario’s massive walls.
The slightly chilly morning air, the pale sunlight, and the endless stream of adventurers marching toward the Dungeon like a colony of ants painted the perfect picture of an Orario morning.
Passing through South Main Street, Kai stopped at Kaelen’s food stall and bought over a dozen original-flavor Jagamaru-kun.
This would serve as both his breakfast and lunch.
Not only were they high in calories and incredibly filling, making them perfect adventurer rations, but more importantly, they were dirt cheap.
As a side note, because Kai had successfully found a Familia, Hestia had quit her job at the potato stall before she even finished her first shift.
She would likely spend her days managing the dusty old bookstore Hephaestus had lent her.
The Dungeon was unimaginably massive.
Even with the massive horde of adventurers pouring inside, it only took five minutes for Kai to find himself completely alone in the sprawling corridors.
Thanks to yesterday’s grueling training, the moment he stepped inside, he drew his single-handed sword.
He had only been practicing for a day, but the way he wielded the blade felt entirely different.
Yesterday, he was just a regular guy wildly swinging a sharp piece of metal.
Today, he felt like a competent warrior.
It was obvious that his first talent didn’t just boost his base attributes—it also accelerated his martial mastery.
Effort directly translated into tangible skill.
He swung his blade.
A silver arc sliced through the air, accompanied by a sharp, ringing hum.
In front of him, three Goblins collapsed, completely decapitated.
Yet, the man who had just executed this flawless strike was grinning like an absolute idiot, ruining any semblance of a cool, stoic swordsman.
This visible, explosive growth was overwhelmingly satisfying.
The same Goblins that had left him covered in bruises yesterday were now nothing more than fodder he could instantly kill with a single swing.
Even Kai found his own progression speed hard to believe.
Kai didn’t linger on the first floor.
Pulling out the map Eina had given him, he headed straight for the entrance to the second floor.
As the sole member and captain of the Hestia Familia, he knew he had to grow strong as quickly as possible.
For an adventurer, fighting powerful monsters was the best possible nourishment for growth.
The second floor was populated by Dungeon Boars.
Their razor-sharp tusks had impaled countless careless adventurers.
Compared to the first floor’s Goblins, the Boars were exponentially stronger in both raw power and durability, let alone the lethal threat of their tusks.
Facing them, Kai didn’t dare rush in and trade blows like he did with the Goblins.
If he let one of those boars put a hole in him, he’d be taking a permanent dirt nap.
So, Kai adopted a new combat strategy: running for his life.
He had no other choice.
He had just tested it—his sword could only leave shallow cuts on the Boar’s thick hide, completely failing to pierce its dense layer of fat.
Thankfully, even though Dungeon monsters turned to ash upon death, they still bled normally while alive.
Thus, Kai implemented a hit-and-run bleeding tactic.
If he couldn’t beat it in a clash of pure strength, he would bleed it dry!
Time proved the tactic effective.
The Dungeon Boar was physically superior to a Goblin, but it was drastically dumber.
Once it locked onto Kai, it relentlessly chased him down, refusing to stop.
The shallow cuts that normally would have healed if the monster rested were constantly torn open by its furious sprinting, causing it to bleed profusely.
While this method was incredibly safe, it provided almost zero actual combat experience.
Worse, the killing efficiency was abysmal.
At this rate, he would probably earn less money today than he did yesterday killing Goblins.
So, after spending half the day running away and finishing off his Jagamaru-kun for lunch, Kai decided he needed to take a Boar head-on.
Even though he had spent the morning just dodging, he felt confident that he could track and react to the Boar’s attack patterns.
It was just a feeling, but he was ready to put it to the test.
The Dungeon walls near Kai began to pulse, and two pitch-black Dungeon Boars spawned in front of him.
Kai didn’t foolishly challenge both at once.
He repeated his earlier strategy, kiting them through the corridors.
However, this time, he only inflicted bleeding wounds on one of them.
The other was reserved as his sparring partner.
The Dungeon’s spawn mechanics were somewhat fascinating.
Unless specific conditions were met, a zone would go dormant after spawning a wave of monsters.
New monsters wouldn’t appear until the current wave was wiped out.
That was exactly why Kai felt safe kiting them through the halls.
Before long, the bleeding Boar collapsed, leaving only a single, healthy opponent.
Kai sheathed his sword and began his special training.
He had to admit, a Dungeon Boar charging at full speed was terrifying.
Its meter-tall frame and razor-sharp tusks made it look like an armored tank.
Kai’s eyes tracked it perfectly; in his vision, the Boar’s furious sprint looked as slow as a person’s casual walk.
He just needed to take a single, easy step to the left or right to avoid the charge.
Yet…
Why can’t I move my legs?
His heart hammered in his chest, pounding like a war drum counting down to his death.
His entire body felt flushed, and cold sweat drenched his leather armor.
It was just a stupid pig.
He had killed so many of them already.
Why was he so paralyzed by the thought of facing it head-on?
Why did taking that single, simple step forward feel like stepping off a cliff?
A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.
He truly, deeply understood what fear meant.
But now, he also understood exactly what he had to do.
Swing the sword!
It was the most basic, unrefined slash imaginable.
He simply drew the sword he had just sheathed, raised it over his head, and hacked downward.
It wasn’t a beautiful technique; it looked more like a child wildly swinging a wooden stick.
But that single, simple strike sent Kai collapsing to the ground.
He sat pathetically on the rough stone floor, gasping for air.
Yet, as he stared at the bisected Boar turning into ash before his eyes, his gaze shone brighter than ever, and a wide, uncontrollable grin spread across his face.
Only he knew that he hadn’t just slain a monster—he had severed his own innate fear of combat!
Kai always assumed he wasn’t afraid to fight, but reality had taught him that fear was buried deep within everyone.
If he couldn’t conquer it, the Dungeon would eventually swallow him whole.
“Hahahahaha!” Kai stood up, his joyous laughter echoing through the dark corridors.
He had never felt so utterly liberated.
Only by laughing loudly could he calm his racing heart.
To anyone else, he probably looked like a complete lunatic.
But the Dungeon was an unforgiving beast that didn’t care about his personal epiphanies.
Soon, three more Dungeon Boars spawned in the corridor.
This time, Kai didn’t bother with hit-and-run bleeding tactics.
He simply gripped his sword and walked directly toward them.
He didn’t know exactly how strong he had become, but he was absolutely certain these stupid pigs were no match for him.
If they came, he would just cut them down.
Simple as that.