Author’s Note:
No way, ranked 1st in the daily ranking?
Every time I said it, it has a certain feeling to it, but this is also thanks to the help of everyone!
For the second consecutive day, I cried.
Also thanks for the many impressions/thoughts.
Steadily, it’s getting harder and harder to reply. Therefore, I’m incredibly sorry, but I’ll have put a stop to answering questions and such. Please consider that if I did, it would cut into the time I have to write. I’m still looking over all of the comments, so please rest assured that I’m paying attention.
Next, thank you very much for pointing out the misspellings/typos.
I was shocked at how insufficient my own check had been.
The fact is that I thought I had decreased the errors as much as possible, and yet…
From here on also, please point out and I will revise every such part, so please, if you could not abandon me I would be happy.
「Haaa!」
「Gukya–!」
『Fire・Javelin!』
I scatter spells with short chanting times, shaving down the numbers of goblins. Fran cleans up the approaching goblins missed by my barrage. Together, we are cooperating well.
We didn’t end up stowing away all the corpses, either. If we didn’t leave behind a share for the guys coming in later, it would only incur more enmity than necessary. Moreover, the limit of our storing space isn’t yet grasped. If the time came that we couldn’t store any more, it would be quite unpleasant. However, all corpses whose magic stones I absorbed, we made sure to collect.
I use Appraisal during combat, checking our opponent’s statuses and briefly identifying their skills. If I find one with anything useful, then their magic stone is cut through, as to absorb it before its corpse is stowed away. The bodies are stored to destroy the evidence. Once the process is finished, I put Appraisal back to work on those that aren’t cut down yet.
Repeating the above over and over again, I’ve become strangely adept at using Thought Division. Now, casting two spells with large chants at once is possible. Since spell chants need considerable concentration, I had thought that even with Thought Division, 2 simultaneous arias would be impossible, and yet…
As expected, hard-to-use skills need practice to fully master them, or else their true potential can’t be displayed.
『Hahahaha, Fire・Javelin x2!』
Nearly 20 flame lances pour down on the Hobgoblin crowd at my shout.
「Teacher: amazing.」
『Before long, Fran will be able to do this as well!』
「Gives headache. Kiーn[1]…」
『Well, that’s a feeling I don’t know, so~』
Thanks to the fact that I don’t have a brain, I don’t get things like headaches. It’s likely because of that that I have a higher compatibility with Thought Division, too. There’s also the possibility that I’m having an easier time because I have the Sorcery skill.
「While fighting: aiming for lower grade spell arias.」
『My next target is chanting different spells simultaneously.』
「Do your best.」
『Ou. Leave it to me.』
Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about running out of sparring partners here.
Just like that, with Fran continuing to be peerless, we pushed deeper into the dungeon.
Just in case, I had used Echolocation to investigate the topography of the cave, but at Lv.1 no detailed information could be gained. Given that, Presence, Vibration and Heat Perception are being used to head towards areas with a high number of Hobgoblins.
「Teacher, found stairs.」
『So it had a second floor…』
The second floor seems to be just like the first. Maybe it was made simply because the density of Hobgoblins increased?
Well, either way, it’s good for me. I’ll be able to gather even more Skills, after all.
「Teacher, there.」
『Oh, that’s… A treasure chest!』
At a dead end, an enshrined chest stands alone. It’s made out of old looking wood, and is around the size of a microwave. Its metal fittings are covered in rust, giving it a certain charm.
『Hm, hm! This is the ultimate charm of dungeons! Right!』
「Teacher occasionally becomes like this.」
『Hahaha! So, what now? Open it? How do we unlock it?』
「Possibly a trap.」
『Hmm. That’s right』
Well, in my case that’s no problem. If I use Telekinesis, then it can be opened from a remote location.
『Fran, take some distance.』
「Nn.」
『Now, let’s open it!』
*GiGii……*
*Hyun!*
From inside the treasure chest, a single arrow flies out. If someone opened it by hand, the arrow would have passed right through the middle of their head.
『So, it was an arrow trap.』
「Cliché.」
『Now then, shall we see what’s inside?』
「Excited.」
Inside of the chest was… A small black stone.
The result of Appraisal was that it’s a『Pocket Heating Stone』. It’s a body-warmer type magical tool that seems to emit a scarce amount of heat when it’s charged with magical power.
In town, it would probably go for around 1,000 Gorudo. Maybe a freshly made dungeon only has things like this?
「Dull.」
With a flop, Fran’s cat ears hung flat. Truly, a disappointment.
『For gold and silver treasures or strong magic items, it seems that we’ll have to wait until a large dungeon』
「Nn. At least: experience earned.」
『That’s the spirit! Let’s keep going!』
Afterwards, as if to release her disappointment, Fran went into an even more peerless state against the Hobgoblins. Before I noticed it, it reached the point that Hobgoblins started to flee as soon as they saw Fran’s small figure. Maybe information about her spread? Well, even so, Fran chased the fleeing Hobgoblins and finished them with a single strike to their backs.
The King and Queen also ended up being easily hunted down. Even if they’re said to be somewhat strong, in the end they’re only Hobgoblins. With this, is the commission considered complete? The cave keeps on going, though…
『Shouldn’t the end be around here?』
「More ahead.」
『Could the Dungeon Master be ahead…?』
「Going while possible.」
『Alright, let’s keep going!』
Like that, we continued pushing further into the second floor until we discovered a gate.
「Big door.」
『Is it a boss at last? Just in case, let’s ready the Feather of Return.』
「Nn.」
*Gigigiii…*
Using my Telekinesis to push open the gate, the door slowly opens while making a creaking sound. Beyond it is a somewhat wide room, and inside is… Nothing? No, there’re tiny presences of demonic beasts. Maybe they’re Insect types?
『Don’t lose focus, get it?』
「Of course.」
*Batan!*
Ooh! Suddenly the gate closed. Maybe it’s one of those. ‘A door that won’t open back up until you defeat the boss’ type of trap.
『But weren’t we told that there weren’t any traps?』
「Imprisoned?」
『Fran, calm down.』
「It’s alight. Just need to defeat everything. Nothing changed. No problem.」
Right, Fran has nerves of steel after all.
*BuBuBuBuBuuu*
「?」
『Seems that they’re coming.』
Gushing into the room, insect type demonic beasts with green carapaces appeared. Sprouting horns, they looked like softball-sized ladybugs. However, on the other side, a Giant Isopod-looking insect appears. Extremely disgusting.
Race: Army Beetle Leader : Calamity insect : Demonic beast Lv5
HP: 8 MP: 20 STR: 4 END: 3 AGI: 22 DEX: 11 INT: 5 MGC: 12
Skills:
Wind Magic Lv.1, Summon Kin Lv.5, Leadership Lv.1, Cooperation Lv.1, Acid Fang
Race: Army Beetle : Calamity insect : Demonic beast Lv2
HP: 6 MP: 10 STR: 3 END: 3 AGI: 20 DEX: 10 INT: 2 MGC: 4
Skills:
Hardening Lv.1, Acid Fang
Race: Army Beetle Medic : Calamity insect : Demonic beast Lv4
HP: 10 MP: 15 STR: 1 END: 7 AGI: 20 DEX: 10 INT: 4 MGC: 8
Skills:
Recovery Magic Lv.2, Acid Fang
Race: Army Beetle Shooter : Calamity insect : Demonic beast Lv4
HP: 3 MP: 18 STR: 2 END: 2 AGI: 20 DEX: 10 INT: 3 MGC: 10
Skills:
Wind Magic Lv.3, Acid Fang
They’re small fry, but their number is no joke: they easily surpass 100. Not only that, the leader has Summon Kin. If it’s not immediately destroyed, it’ll have a snowballing effect.
「Interesting.」
It seems Fran is already firmly walking the path of a battle junkie. Thrusting herself into the army of disgusting insects, she joyfully started to fight. As for me, I keep using Telekinesis to seal the movement of the insects as assistance.
If they’re this small, even Telekinesis at its lowest output could prevent their movement. When the opponents are larger, it’s more efficient to just throw the usual spells, but…
「Sh! Haaa!」
After stopping their movements, Fran pierces their magic stones. For once, an unusual demonic beast has appeared, so we’ve left behind about half of the materials to be collected.
The most troublesome ones are the Shooter’s Wind Magic, but its power is exceedingly weak. On top of that, their MP is low, so they run out after shooting only a couple of times. Honestly, it’s nothing more than a distraction in the end.
The Leaders keeps summoning subordinates one after the other, but that’s more of a reward rather than a punishment. The magic stones just keep piling up.
30 minutes later, on the other side of the gate, the presences of several people appeared.
「Shit! It won’t open!」
Donna and the others seem to have arrived.
『It can’t be helped. Let’s end this.』
「Bonus stage……」
『Now, now. I feel the same, but…』
「Nn……」
That marked the beginning of the extermination. In rapid succession, Fire Magic and wide ranged Sword Techniques were released one after another. It was finished in no time at all. Not even lasting 5 minutes, the ~200 remaining bugs were obliterated.
Before anyone noticed, my Wind Magic had risen to Lv.7. That’s just how many magic stones were absorbed.
*Gashan*
『Huh? That side opened?』
The gate that Donna’s group was intensely striking against remained shut just like before. Instead, a gate hidden in the wall of the opposing side opened.
「Amazingly strong magical power.」
『This strength of magical power… It must be equal to a C rank demonic beast — no, even higher.』
From the opponents I’ve come across until now, the one with the strongest magical power was the gluttonous Slime Lord. The magical power coming from beyond the gate, however, exceeds it.
『No way… For a recently created dungeon to have a being with such high magical power…』
「Itching to fight.」
『Wait, this time the enemy is really dangerous. We have to prepare properly.』
Antideath , status raising series, regeneration, invalidation of status abnormalities at fixed intervals and so on. Having put on as many buffs as possible, we enter the room.
[1] Not sure what this sound effect is for, but I’m thinking that it has something to do with the ringing one would hear when experiencing a headache.