The female adventurer jumped up from the ground, and the layer of magic machinery and giant gun covering her body retracted into her storage space together. After dusting off the dirt on her body, she turned around and reached out her hand to Aya with a cheerful smile, "The boundaries are starting to shrink. Do you mind walking with me to the central area?"

Aya hesitated for a moment, then held her hand.

The shrinking speed of the boundaries was not fast, and it was intermittent. According to the rules, it would take at least six hours to shrink to the level of the dueling ring on the second floor. They still had plenty of time.

Because of the chase and battle they had just had, there were already sounds of fighting and the glow of Chi and Magic in the surrounding ruins. It seemed that the raiders had finally taken action, and the battle among the participants had also begun.

"Hey, little girl, are you a mercenary or a bounty hunter?" Lighting a crystal lamp and walking side by side with Aya on the dark street, the female adventurer suddenly asked, then muttered to herself, "Hmm, definitely not. The strength of the Magic shield you used earlier was at least at the level of a seventh-grade. If a Magic user of this level became an adventurer, I would have definitely heard of it."

"Uh, actually no..." Aya secretly tugged at the corner of her mouth. Little girl? Even though this dragon has lived for over two hundred years, you're at most eighteen or nineteen years old. Are you sure you can call me that?

"So, are you from some noble family? Are you a young lady or something?" The female adventurer looked up and down at Aya, guessing. Aya didn't look like an experienced adventurer at all, and Dragons naturally possessed a noble temperament. She might be a Magic genius sent out by some noble family to gain experience.

"Um...miss adventurer?" Aya was a bit at a loss for how to answer, so she raised her hand helplessly, "But, um, there's a monster ahead."

"Hmm?" The female adventurer followed Aya's finger and saw a creature approaching them with a fierce expression, much bigger and stronger than the strongest wolf. A long, pointed horn protruded from its forehead...okay, definitely not an ordinary wolf.

Ice and Snow Magic Wolf, originally a magical beast living in the northern Frost Forest. Besides having a larger size and more strength than ordinary wolves, its fur was also difficult to penetrate with swords and blades. It could use some ice and snow Magic with the horn on its forehead. It was one of the more troublesome beings among low-level magical beasts. Even a typical third-level knight would have to put in effort to deal with it.

Aya wasn't afraid of this creature since her main goal was to divert the attention of the person next to her. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to come up with so many lies if she kept being asked questions.

Then, in a lightning-fast motion, the female adventurer pulled out a short knife tied to her thigh and threw it backwards. The poor magic wolf hadn't even had time to react before it was pierced in the neck, falling to the ground with a whimper.

Wow, that was fast...even the magic gun wasn't used.

At first, Aya thought that this person's combat ability relied entirely on the magic gun and magic machinery as support, but she didn't expect her throwing knife to have such power. But then again, it was impossible for her to operate such a super-sized gun without a certain level of strength.

"Alright, let's continue."

The adventurer lady walked over, stomped her foot on the handle of the knife to completely end the struggling of the dying magic wolf, and then pulled out the knife to cut off its horn on the forehead and the magic crystal buried underneath, tossing them into her storage ring. "By the way, you called me...oh, sorry, I haven't told you my name yet."

She patted her chest and said confidently, "My name is Aetra, and I am an adventurer by profession."

"Aya," she tilted her head, introducing herself.

"Aya? What a strange name. Is it a nickname? Well, it doesn't matter. It sounds nice," Etras observed Aya's reaction and suddenly fell silent.

Aya wondered why she suddenly stopped talking, and then Etras spoke again, but this time her voice sounded somewhat defeated, "You... haven't heard of me?"

"Huh?"

"No, really? I thought I had some fame..." Etras seemed unwilling to give up, "You really haven't heard of me? What about the name 'The Azure Gunner'?"

Aya looked at the adventurer with an expectant look and felt somewhat helpless.

............

"Die! Die for me!"

Jumping in place, stepping on the side wall, taking three quick steps forward, leaping into the air, unfolding the icy crystal wings behind her, wielding a sword with one hand, slashing down in mid-air, leaving behind a blue arc of the sword in the air, she landed steadily. The eight-meter tall gargoyle behind her shattered into lifeless rubble within the sword's light. The magic crystal embedded on the top of its head silently fell off, bounced on the ground twice, and was caught by Tiran's hand.

Hmm, I suddenly realized that playing occasionally like a maze RPG can be quite fulfilling. It's a pity that I didn't open many treasure chests, otherwise it would have been even more exciting.

Beep beep beep...

The long-quiet communication channel in his mind rang, and Tiran paused for a moment. He put the magic crystal back into the ring and answered the call, "Aya? You're still alive, huh?"

"...Why can't you say something nice to me?"

"I can't help it. When you were throwing dozens of illumination spells earlier, I thought you would be ganged up on," Tiran smiled mischievously, "Why did you suddenly come online again? Were you being chased?"

"Hmph, I'm as steady as an old dog over here," Aya seemed to have forgotten the way she was chased around earlier.

Tiran almost couldn't resist using a forced summoning spell to bring this bragging stupid dragon over and give it a smack, but he decided against it considering the collection of treasures.

Leaning on the enchanted sword he had just picked up in the ruins, Tiran squinted his eyes, "Alright, what's up? If you're going to chat with me just because you're bored, I might just throw you away."

"Cough cough, I mainly wanted to ask if you've ever heard of someone."

"Someone?" Tiran was a bit puzzled, "Why are you suddenly asking about this? Tell me about it."

"The Azure Gunner, it seems like that's the title. Is she famous in the human mercenary world?"

"Etras?"

"Yeah, that's the name," Aya's voice sounded delighted.

"Hmm, I've heard of her. She registered as a mercenary and bounty hunter two years ago. She's apparently a beautiful woman, but very strong. She has completed many S-level difficult contracts and is on the same level as the comprehensive evaluation and the Dragon Slaying Team. She is called the Azure Gunner due to her unique combat style, her blue magical machinery, and her hair color," Tiran explained.

"She's that amazing?"

"Hmm, I've seen her battle recordings. Because she relies on magitech weapons, she doesn't need to chant like conventional magic users, so she can create a dense web of firepower in an instant, making her unstoppable against large groups of enemies. However, she may be slightly weaker in one-on-one situations. Also, the value of her equipment is enough to outfit a team of Dragon Slaying, and she is known as the richest mercenary... wait, why are you suddenly asking about her?"

"Cough cough cough!" Aya suddenly choked on her own saliva, "It's nothing, don't worry about it!"

"This anxious attitude is very suspicious." Tiran pinched his chin and showed a skeptical expression, "And... what did you just say? 'It's this name'? Are you saying that you knew her name from somewhere?"

"No..." Aya tried to unilaterally cut off the contract communication.

"Or... is that person with you?" Tiran's eyes suddenly sharpened as he thought about the current competition they were in.

"You've misunderstood... really, there isn't..."

"Is that so? Don't lie to me."

"I wouldn't dare, how could I deceive Princess?" Aya's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. Wait, why did she not want Tiran to know that she was with a beautiful girl?

"...Is that person well-endowed?"

"How is that possible? Princess has the best figure! Flat-chested girls are all cults!"

"Is the underwear white?"

"Black lace trim, compared to that, it's indeed more mature... uh!" Aya subconsciously answered without thinking and just realized that she had said something terrible.

"You foolish dragon."

"I... " Aya's voice was on the verge of tears.

"Sneaking around with pretty girls behind your master... you really like doing this, don't you? Dragons are all shallow and only care about appearances, right? You went after the elf girl because she's good-looking, didn't you!"

"I'm not... I didn't..." Aya quickly denied.

But at this critical moment…

"Hey, Aya, are you having a contract conversation with someone? Compared to me, a semi-amateur relying on equipment, a true magic user like you is more skilled in these convenient auxiliary magics."

Suddenly, another female voice unfamiliar to Tiran came through the contract communication channel...

Aya completely panicked. Oh my, that intense killing intent directly transmitted through the contract...