Galird Gonhavton was born as a Noble, lived a Noble life, and behaved as a Noble should behave.
He always thought that the Noble and the Commoner lived inside different cages; they could never be connected on the same level.
But he knew a guy who was the exception to that insight.
The guy whom he, at first, misunderstood as a tall and beautiful woman.
***
"What is this?"
Galird crouched and took a look at a head-severed goblin corpse lying on the ground in front of him.
The goblin corpse was clean; there was no wound except for its severed head. In other words, this goblin had been killed with a single blow.
"Did other students do this?" Galird speculating.
But Reybond immediately shook his head.
"I don't think so, My Lord. Attey and I were hanging out at the front of Dungeon Registration Hall. Only those two who went to this low-level Dungeon at this time."
Even Attey nodded; the fact was so well known that a fool like him understood the fact.
"So... He did it? No, maybe that Maid?" Galird presumed.
Royal Academy of Lizarck Kingdom was the place where every Human on the continent sought their learning affairs.
To counter the ridiculously high number of registrants, the Royal Academy set its standard at a sky-high level, accepting only the special among the specials.
That's why it is common for those superly talented students, even the first-grade students, to have already conquered Dungeons as weak as Goblin Cave when the snow has covered the roofs of the Capital buildings in white.
Those low-level no longer a challenge for them, so all of them had been turning their attention to the stronger Dungeons.
Only Loryarc is a weak student here in the Royal Academy. Yes, even his fangirls, these commoners, are way stronger than he was.
Then again, it raised an additional question. How could such a weak person be accepted by the Academy?
The answer was there in Glamoria's interest in him.
Well, setting that aside for now.
"Were these two that strong?"
Attey's question was the main point here.
Loryarc, the weakest, and Marie, his Maid, was exploring a Dungeon.
It looked like a suicide attempt for the outsiders, but it's a fact that the three found here.
The three are right now at the Third Stratum of the Goblin Cave.
The last Stratum before challenging the Boss.
You could not survive here with no real skill, at least for this level of the Dungeon; this stratum was the most dangerous place.
Galird still vividly remembers how he was on his first day at the Academy, arrogant and believing that he was the center of the world, but being beaten and almost killed by the Goblins at this Stratum because he ran out of Mana.
"Anyway, we'll find out the truth soon," Galird said.
Galird shook his head to erase the unnecessary thought from his head and chose to advance further for now and see what happens.
Then, after finding the Goblins' and even Hobgoblins' corpses scattered all over the place on their way while advancing further to the depth of the Dungeon, they finally confront the culprit behind the massacre.
A black-haired man and his maid, with their body covered in red stains.
Galird widened his eyes when he saw them, didn't expect them to do all the killings, but his eyes immediately calmed down. Galird could see through their satisfied smiles. Either Loryarc or Marie was tired and almost on their limits. They couldn't defeat the Boss in their current state.
He took a step forward and placed a grinning face on his face.
"Well... Well... What we found here isn't it our fool son of Lapizburn?"
Loryarc and Marie finally noticed his presence after he raised his voice.
The two glanced at each other before looking at him with a frown.
"Galird... What are you doing here?" Loryarc asked.
Galird could feel the irritation behind his words. He didn't mind it and kept grinning.
"I am here because you seem not to understand yet, of course! Didn't you realize that you are weak and couldn't do anything even now, yet?"
Loryarc didn't say anything for a while before repeating his words. "Weak and couldn't do anything?"
Unexpectedly, Loryarc is still calm. He is even smiling now.
"Then, why don't we see whether I am weak or not?" He said in a sarcastic tone.
Loryarc moved to the side, gesturing toward the huge, imposing metallic gate behind him.
Galird's grin faded after he heard his words.
"Just watch me beat the ass of the Goblin King, and think, I am weak or not?" That's what Loryarc implied within his words.
How arrogant; as if he really was capable of defeating the Goblin King.
But then, Galird frowned.
Was Loryarc ever this arrogant? And what is the origin of his arrogance?
After pondering for a second, Galird smirked.
"Okay. Go ahead." He replied, didn't pay any heed to Loryarc's subtle provocation.
He decided to observe first before judging Loryarc's action.
Galird was curious; was Loryarc getting stronger somehow after he recovered from his illness?
Loryarc was momentarily stunned by how easily he agreed with his words, but he smiled afterward. He thought he understood Galird a bit better now.
"Yeah, just leave it to me."
Loryarc gave him a thumbs-up before opening the gate with Marie.
***
Cracking-clang!
The 6-meter-tall gate opened to both sides with a loud sound. Dust and vines fell from the ceiling after the gate opened, signifying how long the gate had been waiting to be opened until this day came.
A man and a woman stepped in from the open gate, advancing to the vast cavern area they faced.
The cavern area here is not as vast as the Third Stratum, but it may still reach a width of 200 meters. There are also some stone pillars connected to the ceiling here.
There was no monster inside, but the two could see a massive, mysteriously shimmering magic circle at the center of the cavern area.
The light of the magic circle brightened as time passed.
Then, after the light almost illuminates the entire cavern area, the light fades as quickly as the appearance of a 3-meter-high muscular Goblin. That was the Goblin King. Its huge War Axe was the evidence of its identity.
Alongside the Goblin King, there are also five Hobgoblins. They were armed with spears or swords and were as tall as an adult.
Before the light of the magic circle completely faded, the eyes of the Goblin King and Loryarc met.
Loryarc's expression turned solemn, while the Goblin King's expression turned into a raging face.
Loryarc raised his sword at the same time as the Goblin King raised its War Axe.
When the two beings put their weapons down, the battle begins!
"GGGOOOOHHHHH!!" The Goblin King howled.
Its Guardians prepare their weapons and face the challengers after their King points the Challengers' position.
The situation heated up quickly.
"I'll take the Goblin King, Marie!"
"Then, I shall behead these Hobgoblins, Master!"
Loryarc is running toward the Goblin King in a straight head-on manner, while Marie hides herself for the time being.
A Hobgoblin noticed the spot where Marie was hiding, so it rushed toward that place, thinking that it would find the hiding human to prevent it from attacking their King.
Loryarc noticed the movement of that Hobgoblin, but he ignored it and kept rushing toward the Goblin King and its four Guardians.
Seconds after, Loryarc almost reached them.
But the Goblin King's descending War Axe was what awaited him there.
Loryarc's focus intensified.
The time seemed to be slowed within his perception.
With a show of very excellent body control, he stopped right before he reached the War Axe attack range and left the War Axe to slice the stone ground without even touching his hair.
"GOH!?" The Goblin King howled a surprised yowl.
The Goblin King didn't seem to expect he could control his body that excellently and panicked. It began to pull its War Axe out of the ground.
Fortunately, it has the Guardians to guard it.
The Hobgoblins surrounded the unscathed Loryarc.
They raised their spears and swords, slashing and thrusting at the Human.
But their weapons couldn't damage the Human, or rather, their weapons just passed the Human's body as if his body did not even exist; merely an illusion.
But they are wrong.
The Human in front of them was no illusion, but a clone. A Wind Clone.
Loryarc created his clone while the War Axe covered the vision of his foes.
The clone approached a Hobgoblin while ignoring the weapons attacking it, choked the Hobgoblin to the ground, then punched it to death.
The other Hobgoblins were in despair. Their weapons couldn't damage their enemy, so how could they fight!?
Marie jumped out from the nearby stone pillar at that moment, instantly beheading a Hobgoblin with her bloodied dagger—adding more chaos within the Guardians.
The Goblin King noticed the struggle its Guardians faced, so it pulled its War Axe out with more strength.
It is now covered with a reddish aura, its innate Skill: Blood boil. That was a skill where the user could enhance their physical prowess greatly as much as they exchanged their blood.
But before it could swing its War Axe to slice the two foes in front of it with its full strength, Loryarc appeared from behind and cut its tendon, rendering it lose its balance.
Its War Axe sliced a Hobgoblin instead as the result. The guardian loses its life under the weapon of its King, how poor.
At the same time, Marie and Loryarc's wind clone had just beheaded and punched the rest of the Guardians to death.
The Goblin King is left alone with Loryarc, his wind clone, and Marie surrounding it.
The rage boiling inside it burst out with its reddish aura. It exchanged its blood once more, strengthening itself even further.
"GOOOHHHHH!!" It howled in even more wilder anger.
Its first target was the one who cut its left leg tendon before.
The Goblin King, with its formidable enhanced strength, swung its War Axe toward Loryarc.
Its War Axe moved in a flash, almost breaking the air barrier.
Even Loryarc couldn't see its attack this time.
He could only guard his body with his sword, but his body was still pushed to the nearby stone pillar by the impact, making him cough up a mouthful of blood.
"MASTER!" Marie called her master out of shock.
Marie, of course, couldn't ignore it and lost her focus on the battle after seeing her Master being embedded in the stone pillar.
Marie immediately rushed toward Loryarc, but she was pushed to the ground by Loryarc's clone right after.
A terrifying, crushing sound could be heard behind them.
If the clone hadn't pushed Marie at the moment, maybe she would have been left with her body sliced in two moments ago.
The shock after knowing that she almost lost her life was so great that Marie was stunned, her mind empty with fear and despair.
"Take her away!" Loryarc forced his body to stand and commanded his clone to bring Marie away from the raging Goblin King.
The clone immediately brought the stunned Marie in a princess carry away, but the Goblin King had already readied its next attack.
And its target was Marie and the clone!
"Tch!"
Loryarc clicked his tongue, feeling that the situation worsened very quickly.
His clone could dodge the next attack, leaving the Goblin King with its War Axe embedded in the ground once more.
But the clone disappeared afterward.
Marie wouldn't be able to avoid the Goblin King's attack in her current state.
The time is... Slowed down.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
"Ha..."
Loryarc could hear his heartbeats more clearly than he usually does.
He pushed his body up and stood
He should move.
He should.
To save Marie.
But... Why is it?
Loryarc himself wasn't sure why, but he smiled. Smiled very widely.
When his stress piled up, he became excited instead.
Not only that, but even his body seemed to be strengthened as well.
He stood and rushed toward the Goblin King with a lot more strength and agility than he expected he was capable of.
Before the Goblin King could even raise its War Axe to attack Marie, Loryarc already reached its back faster and slashed the Goblin King's broad left shoulder.
"GGGOHHHH!!?" The Goblin King cries in agony.
The slash he made contained more power than he imagined, cutting through the Goblin King's muscle like a sharpened knife cutting meat.
The Goblin King turned around furiously, looking at him with pure killing intent.
Loryarc glanced at the Goblin King and his sword, still dumbfounded by his own strength.
The Goblin King wouldn't wait for him to ready himself and immediately swung its War Axe down to Loryarc.
Seeing the wind-slicing War Axe approaching his head, Loryarc raised his sword again in a flash.
Then.
Boom!
The Goblin King's War Axe failed to slice Loryarc and instead destroyed the ground.
Loryarc exhaled, looking at his trembling, raised hands holding his sword.
He tracked where the War Axe aimed and diverted it with his sword. The Goblin King's formidable strength was unrealistic to resist, so he diverted it.
He did it.
He did it, but... What?!
Even he couldn't believe what he had just done.
Loryarc would like to examine the cause of his sudden enhanced power, but the next attack was coming.
Loryarc tilted his sword, diverting the attacks.
"GGGGHOOIHHHHH!!!" A howl of anger came out of the Goblin King's mouth.
The Goblin King seems to be very irritated by his action of diverting its attacks.
It didn't give up yet and kept swinging, while Loryarc kept diverting it.
The sounds of metal clanking echoed inside the cavern area.
A sword of the man and a War Axe of the Goblin King met in the dancing sparks produced by their weapons' friction.
And, after many attacks and diversions, the two stopped moving.
The man stopped moving with the cracked sword he held in his bloodied hands.
The Goblin King's reddish aura subsides. It slowly raised its War Axe... And fell to the ground. It has lost too much blood and died on the spot.
Loryarc snapped out of his trace and sat on the ground with a thud, breathing heavily.
But he smiled.
"I... Win!"