Rivira

As Alex was greatly surprised, the Goliath screamed in agony and misery and coughed up blood. He knelt down and slowly fell face to the ground. A massive explosion of dark smoke filled the entire cavern, but it soon dissipated.

Alex heard the sounds of multiple items falling on the ground but it was difficult to distinguish how many, or what they were due to the sounds of broken rocks falling from the ceiling.

"Harf...harf...It's over~?"

Bell asked in surprise while catching his breath. His body was heavy as he was feeling an intense fatigue but because of the sudden disappearance of the Goliath, his cloudy mind regained a bit of clarity because of the surprise.

Welf was also the same. Just a moment ago, they were in a desperate situation but now, it strangely died under the onslaught of the Crimson Flash. The Goliath was clearly overflowing with vitality a moment ago and wasn't showing any signs of dying yet in just an instant, it feel down to the ground and died.

"—Probably."

Alex muttered as he was also bewildered but confirmed as notification windows appeared in front of him.

[ You have defeated the monster rex goliath. ]

[ You have successfully completed the quest through the highest performance. ]

[ You have acquired 8 skill points. ]

[ You have acquired 1,000 points. ]

[ You have acquired Excelia Coupon. ]

The trio was breathing heavily as they had really pushed their bodies to its limit. After defeating the Goliath, it is always reborn two weeks after it is killed so they could take a rest for a bit but they still weren't completely safe.

As their bodies unconsciously fell to the ground the moment they relaxed their tensed nerves, Welf who was about to collapse and close his eyes, opened in surprise.

[ Excelia has been detected to be overflowing. All basic abilities have reached the maximum. ]

[ You have reached level 2! ]

[ All skills' level has risen. ]

[ Your stats have awakened and the unique features of all stats will improve. ]

[ For every point of strength... ]

[...]

Looking at the sudden system messages, Welf uncontrollably yelled.

"I...I leveled up?!"

His loud yell of surprise caught Alex and Bell's attention. However, the two of them didn't believe him.

"Are you sure you're not hallucinating?"

Alex tiredly chuckled as it was a common knowledge that leveling up is not automatic. Even Bell was aware of this. Even after an intense battle and gaining a great amount of battle, an adventurer cannot level up on his own unless his status was updated by his patron god.

As they haven't been able to return, it was impossible for a diety to update his status.

"I swear its true! The notification windows itself stated it that I've just leveled up."

Welf replied with his pounding heart. Leveling up is every adventurers dream and he wasn't an exception to this.

"Notification windows?"

Alex and Bell asked the same time however, the two had different reactions. While Bell was completely confused, Alex narrowed his eyes.

'The system automatically made Welf to level up?'

This didn't happened to him before. In his case, he still need Kronos to update his stats for him to rank up but strangely, Welf doesn't need to.

"Ah, I'm tired. Let's go to the 18th floor first and celebrate about this later."

In the end, Alex stopped thinking about it. He was already mentally exhausted and just wanted to take a rest. Welf's excitement calmed down as he was also tired. They had already lost track of time since they were wandering in the middle levels.

Hearing Alex, the three started to get up and slowly dragged their tired bodies to the exit leading to the 18th floor with relieved expression.

As they descended to the exit, the scenery of the 18th floor came into view. The floor is filled with crystals and nature. Large forests and lakes cover the floor. Within the forest are blue crystals of different sizes that reflect the light from above, causing the forest to be filled with a pale blue glow.

Aside from the 18th Floor is a safety point where no monsters are born, it is also called the Under Resort.

The exceptionally high ceiling is filled with brilliant shining crystals of two colors, white crystals in the center that resemble the sun, and blue crystals surrounding it that resemble the sky. The amount of light from the crystals depends on the time and cycles through the day.

As Alex was about to comment how amazing the floor is, he heard sound of thuds. Turning his eyes. He saw Bell and Welf collapsed to the ground as their bodies couldn't take it anymore and took a rest without their consent.

Seeing them, Alex sighed and smiled that they could finally take a rest after that tiring and thrilling adventure. Krausel then placed Lilly at the side of Bell and walked to his master.

Placing his hand on the head of Krausel, Alex smiled.

"Then shall we take our rest too, partner?"

Saying that, Alex used Flying Raijin and teleported straight into his room. Even though he could sleep in the 18th floor along with Bell and the others, for Alex, nothing beats having a good rest in a soft bed.

•~~~•

The next morning, Alex appeared in the 18th floor. Using the mark that he had placed on Welf, he arrived inside a tent.

"...Well said."

"We would've died if one of us wasn't here. Lilly agrees."

Alex saw the three of them chatting and it seems like they've talked about something as their confidence seems to be coming back.

"Its good that you guys are up. Then, can I join the conversation?"

The three jolted out in shock when they suddenly heared a voice out of nowhere. Turning their head, they saw Alex who had a smile on his face.

"Alex~!"

Then remembering his ability, they recovered their composure. Bell then bowed in front of him, followed by Welf and Lilly.

"It's thanks to you Alex~san...that we're here right now, that we survived."

"Eh?"

Seeing them thanking him their gratitude, Alex was loss for words. He wasn't sure how to react in this kind of situation but decided to keep his smile.

"Hmmm. You're...welcome."

Replying with a smile, Alex sat down with them. The four of them chatted about various things as they took their time. After all, the four of them had shared a bond even though it wasn't that long.

"Alex~sama, Welf~sama and Bell~sama! I'm very grateful for all of you. Bell~sama might have known this but I would like to tell everyone about my story."

Lilly asked in a low voice. As the three of them didn't abandon her even in the direst situation, she decided to open up to them.

"Is that okay?"

With a gentle tone, Bell encouraged her to continue telling the story. Alex and Welf didn't try to stop her as they also wanted to listen to her.

Lili was born to parents belonging to the Soma Familia, making her a member of the Familia from birth. However, her parents didn't look after her and ordered her to earn money for them instead. A while later, her parents were killed in the dungeon, leaving her to fend for herself. The Soma Familia didn't take care of her and bullied her, making her lonely and isolated.

To earn money, she tried to be an adventurer, but didn't have the talent, eventually switching to being a supporter. As a supporter, she was constantly looked down on by those she partied with, fueling the hatred of adventurers inside her. After a while, Lili decided to run away from the Soma Familia and become a normal citizen.

However, the Soma Familia found her and inflicted misery on the old couple who took care of her, destroying their store and stealing money. She began to hate Soma himself, wondering why he created a Familia if he wasn't going to take care of it. From that time on, Lili began using her hatred of adventurers as an excuse to trick and steal from them.

Lilly also told them about her encounter with Bell and how he changed her life which she was very thankful. Listening to her, Welf and Alex felt conflicted. They felt several emotions inside and Lilly was aware of this.

"Then, do you have a skill?"

Alex awkwardly asked. Seeing his reaction, Lilly smiled that Alex wasn't treating her with disdain but just tried to change the topic as she knew that he was emotionally conflicted on what to feel for her. Whether it was pity, hatred for the one who harshly treated her and many others.

Welf was also feeling the same as Alex. Knowing that she could trust the two, she shared her skill to her party

Artel Assist, a skill that helps compensate Lili's abilities when she's carrying a certain amount of weight, making it easier for her to carry heavy loads.

Holding his chin...Bell, Lilly, and Welf stared at Alex wondering what's on his mind after hearing her skill.

Although this skill was used for a supporter, Alex thought differently. He found Lilly's application of the skill quite bad.

"Didn't this skill also fit... a Tank?"

"Eh?"

Unlike the two boys who were silent, Lilly was quite surprised in hearing that. Being a tank never entered in her mind. Before, to earn money, she tried to be an adventurer, but didn't have the talent, eventually switching to being a supporter.

Looking at them, Alex elaborated what's on his mind.

"I think the Artel Assist would greatly benefit for tanks with heavy armor and heavy weapons or at the very least, that's why I believe!"

Alex then explained the benefits of Lilly being a tank in the party. Even though Welf could take that role as he was apparently wearing a full set of armor, it would be less efficient for the party when Welf himself had high attack power.

Just like Welf's forte of utilizing the power of items to boost his overall combat abilities whether it was attacking or defending, Lilly could also benefit from the power of defensive items.

By making her wear a very heavy but very sturdy armors, aside from it greatly increase her survivability, she could also actively participate in battles better than her being a supporter in the back.

"Well, we have a great smith around here so I think there would be no problem if we would go with my suggestion."

After hearing Lilly's backstory, he also took in consideration the matter of Lilly having a great difficulty in ranking up.

"Also...if Lilly will actively tank the monster's attacks, it would greatly increase the exelia she would gain especially her strength and endurance."

Lilly could not help but nod hearing Alex suggestions. For her, it made sense. She already saw first hand before how great the defensive capabilities of the items created by Welf not to mention the attack power so Alex's suggestions were valid.

If she would agree to Alex, it didn't really matter how low her talent and capability is. What greatly matter was to showcase the power of being overgeared or to be exact, her usefulness would be based on how great her items are.