Sousetsuka

8





"The catalog's got <Webs> proviso on the next floors. What's that?"

"Floor 26 to floor 30 have the same structure as these floors but the spiders are laying in wait on their webs. Each web has one spider living on it. Most of those spiders stay put above the web, but they will come down if an intruder touches their web."

"Umu."

"These webs are problematic. Since the spiders won't come out if you don't touch their web, you can proceed ahead without engaging a fight so long you don't touch one. But there are some spots where you're left with no choice but to touch a web in order to proceed."

"Are those webs not sticky."

"They are. Carelessly touching them will get you bound, and tormented to death. Hitting a web with a stone will call the spider down, and the stickiness is gone once the spider is defeated then you gather the web. After which, you're free to proceed."

"I see. Are these spiders as strong as the ones before them?"

"No. From here on, the spiders get slightly bigger and stronger as we go deeper. They will shoot <Confusion>, <Paralysis>, <Venom> at you."

"Ah. Time to use that huh."

By that Lecan means tools to collect venom. A Sfarko fruit is attached to the tip of one such tool which sucks in venom, then you put it inside a bag intended for storing them. Per Heles's advice, they each bought a set of five.

"You can use them if you want, but if we're heading for floor 31 during this expedition, I'd suggest we wait until then. The venom there is more than ten times pricier."

From floor 31 below, the enemies are the lesser variant of Octular Great Spider. Their venom commands a higher price than that of giant variant of Spotted Spiders.

"<Confusion> is a magic attack. Its range is about 10 to 15 steps. The spider has to have a view on us to put us under <Confusion> but our side doesn't have to see them for the attack to work."

"What happens when you're put under <Confusion>."

"It varies by person, but most go wild slashing at their comrades while screaming incorrigible words."

"That sounds bothersome."

"It is. You suffer from <Paralysis> if you get hit by their claws. This one is apparently a type of curse. Thus, it's indispensable to have curse resistant equipment equipped. Or putting on hard protectors that prevent their claws reaching your skin."

Eda has got a curse resistant bracelet on her wrist. Not clear how effective it is, but it should suffice for the time being, and Lecan's got <Dagger of Harut> if push comes to shove anyway.

The deeper you go below in this dungeon, the stronger the curse assailing you. Obtaining <Dagger of Harut> before coming here was truly a windfall.

"<Venom> is spit out of their mouth, this reaches about 20 steps away."

"Quite far."

"Their slanted upper part swells up when they're shooting from afar. The venom is black, the same color as the ceiling and rocks hanging down it, so it's very hard to distinguish. Not to mention we're in a dimly lit area. And sometimes the venom would hit rock creases and splash back at us. There is no way to avoid this."

"I see. Guess that about covers it. Let's get in."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
Those spiders turned out to be nothing.

They would come down when Lecan threw firewood on their web. Since they were showing their back as they did that, they made for easy targets for Eda's arrows and Lecan's <Flame Arrows>.

Their venom is indeed problematic, but dodging it is a simple matter to Lecan and those spiders don't shoot it often anyway, he had let one shoot it once before the march begun anew.

Since the spiders won't come to the edge of their web, swords cannot reach them. Going within a sword range would get you entangled in their web.

(I see now.)

(Would be handy with a spear.)

(The longer the better.)

(And you can block the venom with a shield.)

Lecan tried shooting a <Flame Arrow> at a web.

It cut off a thread but that's it.

He tried <Flame Spear> as well, but it only created a hole on the hit spot, and nothing else.

The procedure on this floor was Lecan throwing firewood at the web and Eda shooting down the descending spiders. <Shield of Wolkan> came into picture when the spiders were especially agile or shot their venom. The spiders are swift, but they don't move as erratically when they're coming down at the start. Lecan let Eda take care of them as practice. Fortunately the abdomen of these spiders are soft, thus all of her arrows pierced through it.

Some spiders also shot out <Confusion> from time to time, but none of Lecan's party suffered the curse.

Using the same procedure, they traversed through floor 27, 28, 29, and 30 before making a camp near the exit.

"We're running late. Should have made camp sooner."

"It's at Yellow Forg (Touza) moment now."

"What is that thing?"

"It's a <Yacklubend Time Notifier>. This is the small portable version. It shows time when you pour mana in it. It's a very handy tool."

"That's an equipment issued to the royal knights, isn't it. Are you sure you could bring it with you?"

"Ah. Well, uh. Since I'm not a member of the royal knights, it should be all right."

Lecan had an interest in tools that could show time.

In his former world, every town has a bell hall that rings the bell on times measured by a machine.

But this world has sunrise split by three periods of Ring Snake (Muruja), sunset by three periods of Water Buffalo (Shootran), night by ten periods, and noon by ten periods. And naturally, these periods change by season.

In other word, time in his former world is unchanging regardless of seasons or regions, while it's relative in this world.

"Fumu. Is that Time Notifier adjusted by sunrise and sunset. Or does it show a fixed time unaffected by seasons and regions?

"Now this is a surprise. So Lecan-dono is also a scholar."

"At the place I come from, we have a Bell Hall in every town that rings the bell on times measured by machines."

"There's a country like that? But really, bells huh. I see, bells. That's interesting. But, Lecan-dono. How would that tell which time period it's at. Or perhaps, they ring different-sounding bells for each time period?"

"The numbers of ringing differ. The bell rings twice at Lesser Turtle (Fengel) moment, thrice at Halfbeak (Chichi) moment, essentially, just ring different numbers at every moment. Then you only ring the bell once at 2nd, 3rd, and 4th periods."

"What? But then... No, that's right. However... Umu. That's interesting. Lecan-dono. Truly interesting. Thanks for this story. I'll be sure to discuss this with my uncle once I get back to the capital. We've been trying to get machine-based time notification work at the capital with less than satisfying results, you see."

Which means, this world also has machine-based time measurements. Lecan simply didn't know. That said, it doesn't seem to be well known.

In reality, people start their daily lives as lights pour downs from heavens. As for works that can only start at night, establishing the rule <Ring Snake at Three, work starts> has prevented quarrels between employers and employees from breaking out. Sunrise and sunset are made into periods to conform people's daily lives.

"But I still cannot believe how we managed to traverse through floor 21 to 30 in just one day. Just wow. And neither me or Arios-dono fought for real even. We merely had to pick up fallen magic stones."

Heles grilled salted jerky over the campfire as she said that.

"Ah, it's so nice. This is really nice. This so-called campfire. I can't go on without one now that I've seen the light."

She sipped down the soup Eda made.

"To think warm soup could be this sublime. This soup is far more delicious than the soup made by my family's head chef."

Naturally that's not the case, she's probably saying it as a way to express her excitement and gratitude for having these kinds of food inside a dungeon. Lecan refrained from telling her that didn't really work.

"We can enjoy this cuz we're staying the night inside the dungeon. Peeps who keep coming back outside can stay in an inn and all, but I'm wondering if the round trips alone don't tire them out."

"Eda."

"Un? Yes?"

"I usually took five days of break before I would go back to a dungeon after coming back from a dungeon expedition."

"You're really taking your sweet time."

"Your body and soul get extremely tense inside a dungeon. Doesn't matter if you fight or not. One or two days aren't enough to truly heal those tensions."

"So that's how it works."

"The folks here have their own ways of doing things, I won't question that. Just remember that. And when you're camping inside a dungeon, you've got to relax your body well all while never letting up."

"Un! I got you."

"Lecan-dono, you truly cherish Eda-dono, don't you. It's like I'm looking at father and daughter."

"Ehehe. I've got Lecan as my master for this entire year, you see."

"This entire year?"

"Un. I'll think about then when that time comes."

"Eda-dono, aren't you going to continue exploring dungeons after this?"

"Unn. Dungeons are fun, but I don't really feel like exploring one without Lecan around."

"Is that so."

This day they defeated a bit more than 90 magic beasts.

Six treasure chests popped up. Four had potions, two were shields.

They got some nice Graces, should fetch handsomely.

They also gathered some spider threads. Lecan didn't have the slightest idea just how much would it fetch.






Previous Chapter

7





Since these spiders can't hear, they most likely act by relying on visual cues.

After an observation with that in mind, Lecan found out that they would only spring into action when any part, like legs and such, of an intruder comes into their view.

Lecan judged that they were done confirming characteristics of magic beasts on these floors.

Afterward, it was quick.

Lecan kept shooting <Flame Spear> overhead where magic beasts were hiding as he advanced ahead.

Then he pulled magic stones out of the bodies with <Move>.

Eda, Arios and Heles would go collect the falling magic stones in turn.

They proceeded ahead in that fashion.

Floor 22.

Floor 23.

Floor 24.

And floor 25, they were near the exit already.

"Halt. We're taking a break here. You can sit down."

"No err. Why are we resting in a danger zone."

"What I just defeated was a giant variant. We'll wait for the next spawn and create a <Mark>."

"Is that how it is. Heave-ho. Good grief. This is supposed to be called <Nightmare Stratum>. Yet it's as if we're strolling in an uninhabited wasteland with Lecan-dono around."

"I don't see an adventurer anywhere."

"That's because middle stratum is not profitable. Everyone attempts to speed through these floors and begin hunting on floor 31. As such, there's a lot of quests for hunting the giant variant on floor 31."

"Quests?"

"The spawned magic beasts get stronger each time you go down a floor. A party that can barely reach floor 30 simply cannot handle floor 31 magic beasts. Asking them to beat giant variant twice in a row is virtually impossible."

"Ah, I see where you're going."

"As such, Adventurer Association post quests for creating <Mark> on floor 31. It costs three big gold coins."

"Three big gold coins! A~ah. I was once a rich woman with five big gold coins in me stash too."

After buying her bow, arrows and protectors, the fifty gold coins, or five big gold coins, Eda got from their last expedition have been greatly decreased.

"Eda-dono. You will surely get your hands on many more big gold coins with this party soon. Cheer up."

"Un. Thank you Heles-san."

"Eda-dono, what positive mind you posses. That's a rare nature to have. What were we talking about again? Ah right, quests for creating <Mark>. As a condition, the clients have to have the <Mark> on floor 30 before they can post this quest."

When you teleport from floors above the floor you're teleporting to, you get brought near the entrance. Conversely, teleporting from below get you near the exit. Meaning a party with floor 30's <Mark> has to go through floor 30 if they want to get to floor 31.

Giant variants do not tend to spawn near entrances, this dungeon's map also shows that floor 31's giant variant spawns near the exit.

In other words, accepting this quest means you need to traverse through floor 30 and 31 and defeat a giant variant twice in a row, and yet three big gold coins are still a huge sum. Even a six-person party would readily accept that if it means getting five gold coin each for a half day work.

"Naturally, magic stones, materials and treasure chests obtained during the quest belong to the party who takes on the quest. And the clients are expected to help carry luggage and carved materials as one of the conditions. Since the mats on floor 30s fetch for good prices, you could even profit as much as the quest rewards from selling them if you take your time."

Meaning one big gold coin for a day's work for each. It's an undeniably juicy job.

"Well it does take two days to finish, and the quest takers have to prepare for curses and poisons themselves. It takes toll on equipment as well. Nevertheless, it's a highly profitable job all the same."

"Two days?"

"That's the part you find puzzling? Please don't use your standards on everybody else, Lecan-dono."

"<Flame Spear>!"

Lecan suddenly raised his right hand and shot out an offensive spell.

The giant variant had respawned.

"<Move>!"

His left hand took the falling magic stone and put it in <Storage>.

As Lecan silently walked forward, the three followed behind him.

After walking a bit, Lecan stopped and sat down.

"We're having our meal here."

"Are you sure we'll be okay here?"

"There's no spider above. I'll give you a call if one spawns."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Really."

Lecan put out firewood, a hot pot, water and ingredients.

Eda ignited the firewood with magic and skillfully made soup.

Everyone relaxed while enjoying warm soup.

"Being able to enjoy such warm food inside a dungeon like this, truly a luxury we have."

"Eating warm food heals your body and brings out energy. It doubles your strength in battles. I strive to eat warm food inside dungeons whenever I could."

"No uh. That might be feasible in other dungeons, but we can't gather firewood in this dungeon. I really can't wrap my head around the mechanism behind Lecan-dono's <Box>. Perhaps, that's a special-made item by Sir Yacklubend Tomato?"

"Yacklubend? That name sounds familiar, who is it?"

"I've decided to stop getting surprised by Lecan-dono's words, but that one came out of the left field. How have you been living in this country if you don't know about Yacklubend-dono and Tomato Company?"

"I hail from afar. Was at a rural countryside when I first entered this country. Only been living in town recently."

"But you have seen Nocturnal Lights, Ward Lights and Mana Brushes haven't you. Have you never heard of Stun Sticks, Long Soaring Bow, Burst Arrows or Piercing Spear? All of that was invented by Yacklubend-dono, sold by Tomato Company."

"I know about Stun Stick. I've probably seen Nocturnal Lights and Ward Lights before."

"You must be. It's inconceivable that you haven't. On top of that, there's <Bell of Truth (Saradona)>, <Twin Mirror (Naata)>, <Celestial Wings (Kaires)>, <Web of Purity (Halvos)>, <Saint Light Paradise (Agzubares)>, <Scale of Trial (Trientel)>, countless magic tools indispensable to this country, all of that was made by Yacklubend-dono."

"Heles-san."

"Yes, what is it."

"<Bell of Truth> is a holy tool of the temples, you should not thoughtlessly speak about it. Also, the existence of <Twin Mirror>, <Celestial Wings>, and <Web of Purity> is a military secret concealed by the royalty, only high ranking nobles are in the know of what those are. <Saint Light Paradise> and <Scale of Trial> are kept by the royal knights and royal mages respectively who do not make the information public. While <Yacklubend Stun Sticks> are only allowed to be carried by the royal capital's guards and the royal knights."

"Ah."

"Besides, only nobles and big merchants are familiar with Tomato Company's products. They mean nothing to the masses. Lecan-san, Eda-san. Please forget what you just heard."

"Got it. "

"Un! I'm pretty good at forgetting things."

"And also, just so you don't get it wrong, the name Yacklubend is a passed down name, the present Yacklubend-dono did not make every magic tool there is."

"Really?"

"Heles-san. How long do you think <Twin Mirror> has been around for? That's an item that first showed up during the infancy stage of this country's founding. The southern half of this country would have belonged to Dresta Kingdom had that not existed then."

"I had no idea. And how would you be privy about all that, Arios-dono?"

"It's my fighting school's secrets."

"No, that's definitely a lie."






Previous Chapter

5





"Well then, I will now give an explanation regarding magic beasts spawns. Floor 21 to floor 30 are the so-called middle stratum of this dungeon. The magic beasts present are giant variants of Spotted Spiders. They're about as tall as my waist. You must forget everything you experienced on floor 1 to 20 when you tread on these new floors."

"Forget? What do you mean."

"On floor 11 to 20, we have cavities, with lesser Octoular Great Spiders inside each one. You end up thinking that's how it will also be on successive floors. However, that's a straight path to ruin."

"Why."

"First of all, the terrain is different. There's no cavities on floor 21, no spiders below. They're above you. There are creases of rocks hanging on the ceilings of these floors, spiders hide between those creases and descend on you."

"Hou."

"The best method to deal with them is by killing them as they descend, but since there is no sign telling where they're coming down, that is hard to achieve. Those spiders will move right away without any prompt the moment they come into contact with their target, at abnormal speed. They're smaller yet incomparably faster than the spiders on floors before this, many parties meet their end on this floor."

"Only one magic beast per encounter?"

"Not necessarily. Once you get close enough to the spot right below one, it will start descending. If there are more than one spider near that spot, they all will go down together."

"I see."

"On top of that, if you come across other spots with spiders above while trying to run from a spider or going around to attack a spider, those spiders will come down as well."

"So you're saying we can haul up lots of them in one go."

"Okay, I'm a bit worried about your train of thought. Ah, almost forgot, the grounds don't have a good view. There's walls of rocks randomly thrust out of grounds all over the place. You can't just go straight ahead."

"How do the enemies attack?"

"They use their legs. Their claws are far harder and sharper than all spiders before them. They also shoot out <Sleep>. The range of which about 20 steps, I believe. Its effects are so much more immediate and strong than any <Sleep> on all floors before it. Rudimentary <Sleep> resistance cannot block it."

"There's <Flame> as this spider's characteristic written on the catalog."

"I was about to get to that. They spit out small syrupy burning rock-like lumps at you. Its range is about, right..."

Everyone quietly waited as Heles tried to recall.

"I believe it's around ten steps. They can move their head in most directions and swiftly, so there are times when you get hit even when you're taking precautions."

"Is it instant death if you're hit?"

"It is not, but having syrupy flames sticking on your clothes and armor result in a quick and serious scald. And since there's only hard rock-like grounds below you, you cannot rub it away with soil or sand either."

"Sounds like a bother."

"As such, you would want to be ready with equipment with high fire resistant on that floor through floor 25."

Heles was looking at Lecan with a troubled look in her eyes.

"My overcoat highly resists fire. Eda, how about your clothes."

"We bought fire resistant web armor thanks to Heles-san's info. It's got some resistance against dissolving liquid and venom too."

Eda's new equipment is a light brown skin-tight web armor. She's got a fluffy hat-like thing on her head that can be pulled down to protect her head except eye area. Her new light brown boots also look pretty elastic and sturdy.

"Next is of course, their bites. They possess small jaws that's just really swift and nasty."

"How about webs?"

"Since the spiders here use up their thread to go down the tall ceilings, they don't seem to shoot out web from their rear."

"How do they detect things?"

"Wha?"

"I'm asking how do these magic beasts here detect intruders."

"Well, err. That'd be with their eyes, ears and instinct, I suppose."

"Is that confirmed?"

"There is no concrete research on it, but they're clearly capable of detecting intruders and grasp their movement."

"Got it. Let's go then."

Their party set foot on floor 21.



<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

6





Floor 21 has a hard rocky surface as the ground and walls of rocks thrusting out of the ground all over the place. The walls are as short as one step and as tall as three steps high, obstructing Lecan's vision.

The best part of it is the ceiling. You can't even tell how high up it is. Furthermore, curtains of rocks are hanging down here and there, completely hiding the upper side away. The distance to ground from some of the rock curtains are about four, five steps away for the shorter ones so there should be cases of descending magic beasts appearing out of nowhere in front of you.

"There's two adventurer parties on this floor right now."

"What?"

"One deeper to the left. Near the exit. Another is along wall to the right. They're engaged in a fight against three magic beasts."

"Lecan-dono. Are you, telling the truth?"

"It's my ability. Lots of magic beasts hiding out in the ceilings. Around here, over there, there, and there. Let's see. Just how close you've got to make them come down. Ah, right. Heles."

"Yes."

"Same weak spots?"

"Indeed. You either crush their head or aim for their heart."

"Got it."

Lecan took <Sword of Agost> out <Storage> drew it out of its scabbard and returned the scabbard into <Storage>.

"That's a really big sword. I can't believe how you just so easily hold it in one hand."

Lecan ignored Heles's murmur and slowly walked forward one big step at a time.

"It's coming down. Everyone, stay put."

He raised his pace as he said that and stopped at a spot.

A huge Spotted Spider suddenly came out without a sound from behind a crease in the rock curtain, but Lecan had anticipated that already and swiftly cut off its head.

"Fumu. Everyone, come here. Heles."

"What."

"What's the carve-able mats of this magic beast?"

"None."

"What?"

"The highest priced part of Spotted Spider is their thread. However, unless you can fly, you can't collect that dangling thread. Next is their eyes, I think. The leather on its abdomen can be sold too, but it's cheap considering the place they show up, so most people don't bother with it."

"I guess we're mainly aiming for magic stones and treasure chests for a while then."

"That we are."

Afterward, Lecan killed two more.

(Fumu.)

(These spiders sense their enemies.)

(Only when you're about five steps away from the spot below them.)

(They don't react until you get within that range.)

"Lecan-dono. The ceiling here is awfully tall and dim, thus it's easy to overlook spiders lurking above. We risk getting our party annihilated if we caught ourselves unaware of drawing multiple spiders toward us. Therefore, I propose we all should be slowly and carefully as we proceed ahead on this floor."

"Fumu. They really don't seem to attack until they get down on the ground. Alright. I'll let it down on next. Everyone, don't move from there."

Lecan walked 20 steps ahead, then a magic beast came down right in front of him. Which then immediately plunged out once it got on ground. Lecan made a mincemeat out of the magic beast's head directly in front of him.

"Eda."

"Yes."

"A spider will come down five step ahead of the spot I'm stopping next. Aim for its heart with your bow."

"I gotcha."

Lecan walked ahead and stopped, then a magic beast came down after waiting a bit. Eda landed a clean hit on the magic beast's heart with her brand new bow.

"Nicely done. The sensations of pulling that bow should not unlike that of a magic bow, same with the arrow."

"Really? I don't really get it. This bow you picked feels really nice to use, Lecan."

The way you aim with a magic bow is wholly different from a normal bow, and yet Eda has unconsciously adjusted to that difference, it seems.

"That arrow might be usable still. Go fetch it."

"Un."

"Heles. Arios. Come with me. Eda, follow us once you're done."

Heles and Arios walked with LEcan.

"Alright. A spider will come down here. Heles, kill it."

"Ah? Yeah."

"Arios, you're next."

"Yes."

"Alright. A spider will come down here."

"Understood."

Eda caught up to them in the meantime.

Behind them, Heles had just beheaded her spider.

"Over here, Eda."

"Yes."

Heles isn't done taking out the magic stone yet.

Arios stabbed through the spider's heart. Since these spiders shows their back as they comes down, their hearts are exposed during that momentary instance. As long as you know where they're coming down and it's a one-on-one fight, these spiders are nothing for swordsmen on the level of Heles and Arios.

As Lecan was waiting for the next spider to come down, his <3D Perceptions> caught the spider that was hit by Eda's arrow getting down the ground and trying to move. Eda has missed its vital.

"<Flame Spear>!"

Lecan blew his target spider's head with the magic, turned around and commanded Eda.

"Dodge to the left!"

The moment Eda jumped to the left, the spider she failed to kill lunged at the spot she was at. Lecan cut down the spider's abdomen and heart as it tried to turn around.

(The spider didn't react at all to my voice.)

(Perhaps.)

Heles and Arios came back.

"Are you all right?"

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Ehehe. I made a mistake."

"It's fine. You miss sometimes. Anyway, I found something to test. Arios."

"Yes."

"I'll stand in front of the next spider and attract its attention. You make some noise behind it and try to attract its attention. Do not attack."

"Yes? I understand."

Lecan kept the next spider company without killing it. It spat out lumps of flames at him which he flicked away with the side of his sword.

Arios was making racket behind the spider, but it paid no attention to him at all.

Once Lecan deemed the test enough, he cut down the spider's heart. He can directly aim for its heart frontally thanks to his new sword's length.

"Everyone, listen up. It's been made clear with the test just now. These spiders don't have an aural sense."

"Aural?"

"They're deaf."

"Eh? But earlier, Heles-san said."

"Eda."

"Yes."

"Gathering information is an important part of dungeon explorations. They're worth paying for."

"Un."

"But don't believe it."

"Eh?"

"Mistakes happen even without ill will behind the intent. Sometimes conveyed things can miss a word. Some people believe in misunderstandings or their own prejudice. What others consider safe may not be so to me. You alone are the judge for the significance behind a piece of information."

"But how could you doubt what people say."

"If we die due to wrong information, the ones who gave that information won't atone for their mistake, nor will that bring anything. You only have yourself to protect yourself. So use what people say as a reference. That's important. However, do not swallow them whole."

"I won't swallow them whole."

"Right. Information is just that, information. Keep exploring while making sure yourself whether something is true or not."

"Yes. I understand."

"Lecan-dono. Forgive me. Now I'm reminded of a certain party that would have a shield user luring spiders from the front while another member finish them off from behind with a spear. So this is the reason for that."

"No. Your information serves as a reference. Don't worry about it. Now then, let's get down the floor."







Previous Chapter

Chapter 102 Sea Vacation (2)

 

Our lunch was assorted marine products grills.

We lit up charcoal and simply grilled the fish and shellfish over it, which was superb.
And the condiment was my handmade soy sauce!
Yep, I finally did it. Tama bean soy sauce. After 49 trial runs, it was finally done.

Bubbles coming out of scallops, abalones, turban shells dropped by who knows what.
Saury, mackerel grilled with salt. Blueback and stuff made into namero. Other miscellaneous small fish for deep fryer.


The girls rushed out to grab the food every time I'm done making one, it's neverending!

Kagura-san who's usually a big eater already was chowing down everything next to Mitama.

"Fuhaa, I'm stuffed. Mine stomach's firmly in Nobu-kun's grip now. I can't get satiated without Nobu-kun no more."

"...Concrete satiation... Wonderful, blurp."

"Uuuh, I ate too much noja. I cannot move an inch."

"Thanks for the treat. I'll go wash the dish, honey."

"Nfufufuu, this side dish goes so nice with booze~"

Ah hey, Sefi-san's started drinking!!

She'd end up sleeping hugging the liquor bottle if I let her, so I hardened my heart and snatched it away from her. 'Iyaaan', she coquettishly protested, but I remonstrated her to wait until night.

By the way, tonight we plan to stay in the pre-built [Izumi Store Seaside Branch Office].
This jointless house made entirely from Stone Walls is a work of art at this point.

Ah, I may have said seaside there, but we don't have garnish-less curry rice or weirdly salty ramen here.
Speaking of curry, I just can't get over how I can't seem to find any spice for curry at all. Oh crap, and now I'm craving for it.







But man, been a while since we could relax like this.

Everyone kicked back and relaxed once we were done cleaning the dish. But this is nice once in a while.

Come to think of it, I haven't checked my status in a while. Wonder how's it look now.


Name: Nobusada Izumi - Age: 15 - Gender: Male - Race: General Human?
Class: Samurai Lv31 - Fist Fighter Lv24 - Monk Lv25 - Otherworlder Lv28
State: Healthy
Title: 【Izumi Family Head】
HP：914/914 -　MP：134,218,059/134,218,059

【Classes】
Otherworlder Lv28(up!) - Fighter Lv30(M) - Fist Fighter Lv24(up!) - Magic Swordsman Lv8 - Genin Lv16 - Samurai Lv31 (up!) - Monk Lv25(up!) - Magician Lv10 - Conjurer Lv10 - Illusionist Lv12 - Alchemist Lv12 - Time Mage Lv5 - Thief Lv 10 - Hunter Lv10 - Beast Tamer Lv10 - Merchant Lv10 - Slave Trader Lv1 - Farmer Lv10 - Househusband Lv10 - Carpenter Lv1 - Mason Lv1

【Skills】
Ethania Common Language - Differing Soul Telepathy Lv4(up!) - Magic Modification Lv4(up!) - Composite Magic Lv4(up!) - Parallel Cast Lv4 (up!) - Parallel Processing Lv2(new!) - Housework Lv6(up!) - Farming Lv4(up!) - Swordsmanship Lv3 - Katana Art Lv3(up!) - Grappling Lv4(up!) - Two-handed Spear Lv2 - Throwing Lv3 - Shooting Lv2(new!) - Body Reinforcement Lv3(up!) - Mana Clad Lv5(up!) - Evasion Lv4(up!) - Parry Lv4(up!) - Intuition Lv3(up!) - Robust Lv2(up!) - Unlock Lv1 (new!) - Trap Lv1(new!) - Sacred Magic Lv5(up!) - Dark Magic Lv3(up!) - Gravity Magic Lv3(up!) - Time Space Magic Lv3(up!) - Elemental Magic Aptitude Lv5 - Enchant Magic Lv3(up!) - Magicraft Lv3(up!) - Metal Carving Lv3(new!) - Barrier Art Lv2(new!) - Life Magic - Disguise Lv4(up!) - Alchemy Lv4(up!) - Processing Techniques (Wood - Stone) - Resist Poison Lv1 - Resist Paralysis Lv1 - Resist Confusion Lv1 - Resist Instant-Death Lv2 - Great Vigor Lv3(new!)


【Class Skills】
Provocation - Treasure Hunter - Chakra - Treatment - Hawk Eye - Mind's Eye - Seclusion - Healing Heart(new!)

【Contractors】
Mitama, Futsuno, Kagura, Sefirot, Eleanor

【Tamed Monsters】
Tama-chan


My levels went up across the board.

MP went over one hundred million, I won't even comment on that anymore. Not my problem how far it wanna go up.

I learned [Healing Heart] once Monk reached level 20. This skill boosts effects of the user's healing magic. It's simple yet handy. Like, Healing Heart is mother's heart, applying it boost Heal.

Apparently Trap skill is a collective of everything trap, from setting up to disengaging them and more. Oh and, I was taught to rely on Intuition skills and the likes to detect traps.

The rise of skills related to magic modification are thanks to my continuous trials and errors. I was personally doing it very seriously, but people around me saw me like I was just fooling around randomly combining magic, so sad.
And here's the new existing magic usable to me now.

Sacred Magic
LV5
Holy Light - Magic that unleashes lights that crush evils. Especially effective on undead.
Area Heal - Heal that affects an area. Range will change as you master this.

Dark Magic
Lv3
Melt Vital - Decrease stamina.
Melt Strength - Decrease strength.
Melt Agilty - Decrease agility.
Melt Dex - Decrease dexterity.

Gravity Magic
Lv3
Attraction - Control power of attraction to draw objects in.
Repulsion - Control repulsive force to keep objects away.

Time Space Magic
Lv3
Space Grasp - Grasp information in a specific space.

I got a nosebleed due to overload of information when I first used this one. Gushing out like it was a literal water fountain. As such, I've got to put a limit on its usage until I raise my data processing capability and the magic mastery. But the ability to grasp terrain = no need for mapping alone already proves super handy.

Enchant Magic
Lv2
Sharpening - Raise sharpness of instruments. Required Catalyst: Glowfly Whetstone.

Lv3　
Enchant Resistance - Effects change depending on catalyst used.
Scale of Charm: Resist Charm, Poison Bee Sting: Resist Poison, Curse Skull: Resist Curse etc.

The higher Magicraft and Metal Carving levels, the higher grade materials that can be used.
Right now it's stone-> copper-> iron. Metal Carving is zinc -> silver. Wonder if I would get to use gold and higher ranking materials like mithril and orichalcum one of these days. By the way, this skill lets you process stuff through mana, a completely different process than Boss-san's blacksmithing. Even though I can process iron, shaping it into a sword would create a really blunt one. Gotta practice more. Since I've got a stupid amount of mana anyway, wonder if I could do unlimited work thingy in the future...

With Alchemy leveled up, I'm now able to make magic rucksacks on my own. And thanks to Time Space Magic skill I have, I can create one even without the catalyst, Time Space Stone, it's a perfect combination. But I'd paint a target on my back if I made too many, so I only created enough for among ourselves. I mean, I could even create magic rucksacks with 1-ton capacity if I just had the mats for it.

『Levellit's Protection (Soupy Large Serving)』
Protections and lots of other stuff by Goddess Levellit who governs over growth and talent. Heartily loads of plus corrections to experience points, skill acquisition and mastery of the holder and his party members.


And I got more titles for some reason.
【Magic Beast】, 【One who Understands Goddess Hardships】, 【One Glared by Goddess】, 【Object of Goddess Observation】, 【Izumi Family Head】.

【Magic Beast】
Alias given by a certain freeadventurer. It's said he's like a wild beast who controls sorcery and possessing "Vigor".

【One who Understands Goddess Hardships】, 【One Glared by Goddess】, 【Object of Goddess Observation】
Are apparently titles from Ametoris, Hadin and Rutia respectively. Looks like I've been marked by these goddess. Hadin especially. Oh so scary.

【Izumi Family Head】
A present from Levellit. Increase effects of Levellit Protections bestowed to family members.

After offering lots of food like meat and potato stew, boiled fish and stuff, I received information from no-goddess the next morning along with this title. I'll be sure to make good use of it, but something bothered me. Isn't this an abuse of power. When I told that to no-goddess, she said it's like 『Meal Ticket Abuse』. I did fish it with meals, yeah sure.

Ah, I'm not gonna even count [Magic Beast], no sire.



Soul Telepathy level went up after I did the nyan nyan with Eleanor-san.
Lv4 has the effect 『The master can change recipient's class. However, each change requires a large amount of mana』. It's simple yet hugely beneficial. Everyone was also surprised when I informed them of this the other day. I mean, now we can easily change our Classes without going to some Job Change Temples, imagine that. When I tried to see how much mana it needed, it consumed 100. Literally loose change to me.
I also found out something unbelievable with it. All of my wives have liberated their Second Class.
Since no one noticed, it would have been a waste had I not realized this fact. Dunno what was the impetus for the liberation, but it will be a massive boost to our party no doubt.


Presently these are the girls' current and changeable Classes.

Mitama
Hunter - Thief
『Hunter, Thief, Dancer, Genin』

I'm thinking of raising Mitama's Thief level to 15 so they can have increased drop rates even without me around. And since she wanted to raise Genin after that point, I gave her my OK. Wonder if it's because of my story about masked ninjas during our pillow talk? Personally, I can't give up on Dancer Mitama though...

Futsuno
Miko - Monk
『Miko, Merchant, Monk, Minstrel』

Futsuno-san would be our party's barrier and healer support. Tama-chan will also help with support whenever she's around though. Futsuno-san is really good at singing, though I've only heard it once. Must be the reason for Minstrel class. 『Singing in public is just embarrassing, so no can do. It's super embarrassing okay.』 so she said, but it's A-OK if it's me. My little privilege.

Kagura
War Oni - Conjurer
『War Oni, Fighter, Axe Fighter, Staff Fighter, Spear Fighter, Conjurer.』

Kagura-san's wished for her second class to be Conjurer. Apparently she had always wanted to learn magic. But I'm wondering why when she's a total vanguard? Maybe it's because I've been leaving her in charge of overlooked enemies. No let's not think about it.

Eleanor
Magic Fist - Assassin
『Magic Fist, Fist Fighter, Jujitsu, Assassin, Animal Trainer.』

Magic Fist is an advanced class of Fist Fighter, they hit with their fist clad in Fighting Spirit (Touki) which then explode, or so it seems. Well, I mean, I haven't seen Eleanor-san going all out so I can only go by what I heard. Anyway, she's set Assassin as her second class. Kinda weird how she got advanced class right from the get go, but I'm guessing the reason might be that. Y'know, the matter that left me and Master almost dead? Well, it's going to strengthen Eleanor-san no matter how you look at it regardless though. Just gotta make sure us husband and wife never get into a quarrel! Animal trainer? I'm keeping it a secret since it's frightening me.


<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >



BAM!
BAM!

Hm? Is something hitting the barrier? I noticed late since I was deep in thought.
Dunno what it is, but it's been going at it endlessly, now I'm curious.

"Milord, where are you heading off to?"

"Well, looks like something's been bumping against the barrier on the sea side. I'll go take a quick look."

"Muu, I cannot fight well in the water. Forgive me, I would have to leave it to you. I loathe to wake everyone up as well. Just please do not push yourself noja."

Yep, I'm in agreement. Even Eleanor-san is knocked out right now. It must have been hectic in the guild. You accumulate stress in service business after all. Gotta let her rest easy today.
Don't worry I won't overdo it. I'm gonna snipe it from afar if it looks like bad news.

Now then, the end of the barrier is quite far. With Space Grasp, I see that some sort of big thing is ceaselessly crashing itself onto barrier. It's positioned above the sea. I slid above the sea surface with high-speed magic set to get there and found a monster that bore a resemblance to a Flying Fish but actually completely different. Outwardly it looks exactly like [Tuna!] as a certain famous actor would say. That black lustrous body must have some nice fat in it.


Magurossu <TLN: Maguro means tuna.>
HP: 89/327 - MP: 15/78
A rare mutant variant of Flying Fish. An unusual specimen that can employ time space magic. Also known as [Super Dimensional Fresh Fish]
As it's a new species, this fish has only begun to awaken to its instinct. It will die if it doesn't keep moving forward, will it be a march toward salvation or is it a path of ruin it's treading.


It's literally tuna! And Discerning-sensei's explanation is kind of philosophical somehow. Anyway, let's deal with it at once and hope for a good drop.
But am I just imagining things or is it running away from something. I mean it keeps charging on even if it means wearing down its own HP. Its MP is about to run out, and it's wounded all over too. Yet I don't see anyone else around. Let's just do this real quick.

"Weapon Skill 『Vibrating Blade - Silver Flash』!"

With a glint of silver light, Lunar Cat's blade cleanly cut apart Maguros head from its body. The drop item showed up once Discerning-sensei confirmed its death, and.... it's gigantic!

Bluefin Tuna
Quality: High - Enclosed Mana: 8/8
total length 2m 6cm, weight around 330kg.

Hahahahaha... Wonder if I can even process this. No choice but to though.



Nyaaaaan

*shiver*

W-what!? I sensed danger along with that cat-like voice just as I was about to put the bluefin tuna in Dimensional Storage. I surveyed the surroundings while also using Space Grasp, but there's no one around. Above the sky, under the sea. No way in hell there's a cat here.
I left the spot warily while leaving a big question mark behind.






Previous Chapter

3





"Get me a sword."

"There's a bunch o'er there."

"Better sword than those."

"We ain't no dealing in Grace swords."

"I don't need Grace swords. I want a proper sword forged by a proper blacksmith."

The thin shopkeeper with prying eyes looked up to Lecan doubtfully before twisting his lips. His white mustache got lifted up to near his nose. Hard to tell whether he's angry or laughing.

"Stay there."

After a while, he brought back a sword that had a, while plain, tightly built scabbard, emanating a quiet presence to it.

Lecan drew the sword.

It's a good sword.

Lecan didn't use <Appraisal> on it.

An amateur doing <Appraisal> in the presence of an expert is discourteous and also pointless.

He could simply ask the shopkeeper in front of him if he wanted to know about this sword.

"Fumu. It's a good sword."

However, it's not enough.

This sword is one, two levels below <Sword of Rusk> in sharpness, sturdiness and most likely ease of use.

Lecan put back the sword on the counter, took his <Sword of Rusk> along with its scabbard and put it on the counter.

"I want a sword as good as this."

The shopkeeper took the <Sword of Rusk> out of its scabbard. Then his eyes opened wide.

"A-ain't this. Ain't this <Sword of Rusk>"

"Hou. You could tell without <Appraisal>."

"'s obvious if ya look at the way these lines formed, the blade's color and the scabbard's construction. Didn't think I'd get to look at <Sword of Rusk> once again at this age..."

The shopkeeper stared the <Sword of Rusk>'s blade for quite some time before putting it back into its scabbard.

"Been roughhousing this sword ain'cha, eh."

"Mwu."

Lecan himself considers his handling careful. But thinking again, Lecan's entire style of combat itself is forceful, thus even though he intended it to be careful, it was likely not in reality.

"Lemme keep this sword. I'm gonna sharpen it and tighten the grip for ya."

"Umu."

The shopkeeper's squinted and glared at Lecan with an awfully stern look on his face before eventually spoke up.

"Mate. Come inside."

Lecan was led outside the shop through the back door to a warehouse-like building behind the shop's building.

"Here it is. Won'tcha take a look at this sword 'ere."

There was a sword.





4





It's a huge sword.

Looks quite heavy.

A sword without any decoration.

But it's beautiful.

Grips of swords for knights are made of expensive metal, adorned with complex engravings. Which is useful for friction, but it also serves as a vaunt to show off the bearer's rank.

This sword has no such ostentatious ornaments on it.

The grip is made of unknown material wrapped by some sort of fiber.

It looks to be spider thread from a dungeon wrapped by yet another thread. It appears dyed, of deep indigo color.

That boorish forceful wrapping made Lecan's heart go aflutter.

Such one gigantic sword is sheathed inside a flimsy-looking scabbard like it's just there, but it feels truly well built. It must have some kind of stuffing inside the leather.

Lecan just up and touched the sword.

The way his hand moves is even more delicate than when he's handling children.

The sword's grip pleasantly accepted Lecan's hand.

Lecan gradually put more strength before eventually lifting the sword up powerfully.

Aah.

What a gripping sensation.

The indigo thread had this firmness and mysterious elasticity to it, fitting so well in Lecan's hand.

This sword surely won't slip off his hand even when it's full of blood. It will definitely follow Lecan even to the depths of hell.

His left hand grabbed the scabbard as he drew the gigantic sword out.

Lecan was intoxicated as he gazed upon a beautiful brutal blade that emerged out.

As the tip of the blade parted with the scabbard and the entire blade came into full display, Lecan instinctively groaned.

"Uumu."

Swords present a conundrum.

Sharpness and sturdiness.

Sharp swords break easily, unbreakable swords do not cut well.

In addition, to Lecan, swords aren't just for cutting things, they're also a shield, a hammer and a spear. Lecan doesn't simply swing the blade around, he drives his sword at his enemy from all angles. The one sword capable of enduring all that is the perfect sword to Lecan.

How about this sword then.

This sword appears to be sturdy in all directions.

And yet it seems to possess a formidable sharpness.

No, its sharpness is not apparent by looks alone.

However, this sword will surely demonstrates incomparable sharpness when wielded with the appropriate strength and speed. Lecan could just imagine the sight of it.

His eye turned to the scabbard.

At first he thought it was completely black, but there's actually a slightly blue tinge to it. And the surface of the scabbard which he considered plain at first actually hid same colored strong thread that stealthily emerged and submerged over the entire scabbard, engendering its utilitarian nature. Charming Lecan's heart like a lap pillow of a virtuous wife.

Lecan went out of the warehouse with the scabbard still in his left hand and the sword in his right hand.

There's a small space between the warehouse and the shop. That small space is exactly the one thing Lecan wants most right now.

He lifted the sword up high.

Lecan had no memory of him raising the sword.

It's as if the sword raised itself up in order to pierce the heavens.

Lecan put his will into the sword in his grip.

(O sword.)

(Heed my commands.)

(Tear everything apart!)

BWOON! Thus the great sword got swung down, cutting the air and stopping in mid-air while cutting nothing.

No, not exactly.

Had there been something in the sword's trajectory, it would have been cut in half no matter what that something is.

Lecan swung down the sword with the intention of cutting everything in this world, so long the sword followed Lecan's will, the world had been cut.

"By golly. Whodda thunk there's someone out there who could wield that sword one hand."

Lecan was pulled back to reality with the shopkeeper's word.

"This sword?"

"<Sword of Agost>."

"<Sword of Agost>, eh."

"Agost was a son of Rusk."

"What"

"Was a promising blacksmith himself. But guy went and croaked before his dad did."

"Really."

"S'why swords made by Agost are mostly gone now."

"Did he forge this sword for a custom order of some kind."

"I got no clue. Ye'd normally think someone made the order for such a specific sword like that, but none came forward to take it after Agost's death. Then after Rusk also kicked the bucket, the wife of late Agost put it on sale to put food on the table."

"And you bought it off her, shopkeeper."

"Righto. Didn't think it would ever sell tho'. Call it a youthful passion if ya will. Even just takin' the thing back here was an ordeal ya know."

"How much."

"Eh?"

"How much is this sword."

"15 gold coins, or maybe not, 12 and take it. Sorry bout this, just cannae' go any lower. Would be an insult to Agost if I did."

"I see."

Lecan put <Sword of Agost> back in its scabbard, grabbed his just sorted out gold coins and put them on his left palm piece by piece. Once it got to 15, he handed them to the shopkeeper,

"Y-ya sure, mate."

"This sword is worth that much."

Lecan told the shopkeeper about his dungeon exploration, left <Sword of Rusk> to the shopkeeper and departed the shop.





Previous Chapter

1





On second day of their recess, or the day before they go back to dungeon, Lecan went around with Eda looking for a bow. Followed by Arios and Heles.

Lecan did a lot of archery practice in his former world since he couldn't use magic then. He believes he's got a relatively good eye for bows.

He hesitated how big it should be. It's possible to deploy oversized bows in this dungeon. The bigger the better even on floor 1-20. Perhaps due to that, there's a lot of huge bows on sales, sizes that would be unthinkable in other dungeons.

However, too big a bow would hinder her, and it should also preferably fit inside the <Box> Shira gave Eda.

And yet, a bow that can't shoot arrows well is meaningless. It doesn't have to shoot too far, it just needs to shoot straight ahead at medium distance. A good long-range bow with no quirks.

After visiting many shops and tried many bows, they finally found the right bow. Resilient, no deviation, and the feelings of letting an arrow loose is incredibly nice. The materials used are of good quality, likely giving it a good durability despite its sober appearance.

Eda's eyes almost popped out when she heard it cost five gold coins and three big silver coins even though it didn't have a Grace, yet Lecan thought it was on the cheap side. Ordinary bows get to be this cheap in this town likely because there's a lot of Grace items in circulation here. However, even if you forgo the cost of the craftsman's labor, you still have to pay for the mats and production process.

Of course, Eda was made to pay for it.

They bought 100 arrows in the same store. Eda told him that her <Box> couldn't hold that many, thus Lecan kept half of those with him. They also bought some reserve arrowheads. They bought oil, cloth and string used to maintain in the same store, and was also taught how to do maintenance there. Since they found a nice store, they should finish up everything there if possible.

That store referred a curse grant store, and poison store to them. This town houses heaps of such stores within.

They put paralyze curse on five arrows at the curse store. The highest ranked curse that store could put on arrows. Costing about one gold coin per cast for each arrow. Eda wanted cheaper curses, but Lecan taught her that having five arrows with a high probability curse is better than ten arrows with a low probability curse.

They bought 20 paralyzing arrows at the poison store.

"Eda."

"Un."

"Inside dungeons there are times when you cannot collect your arrows, or you might find arrows you retrieved unusable. So think of these arrows as one-use disposable."

"Eh? Really?"

"Use them while calculating what you have left. How many arrows you use in a hunt, how many arrows you keep for self-defense, plan ahead while adapting to the situation you're in."

"Un!"

The four had their late lunch when Lecan left Eda to Arios and Heles.

"Okay, you two go help Eda find her equipment."

"Yes."

"Affirmative."

"Since magic beasts from floor 22 below can spew venom, get her ones that cover her skin. Also lighter and sturdier shoes."

"Understood. Luckily for us, there's an endless supply of high quality thread here thanks to the dungeon. We will find her some first-class light webbed protectors."

"You do that. As for short swords, I'm lending her mine for the time being so you can ignore it. Get some good protectors, no need to skimp on cash."

"I understand."

Heles also nodded.

"We split up here. Gather back at <Jade's Restaurant> tonight."

"Got it."

"Yes."

"Acknowledged."



<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

2





Lecan parted with the three and checked around weapon shops.

Not sure why, but this town barely has any store specializing in swords despite an abundance of spear stores.

And most of those sword stores mainly deal in Grace items.

Selling the Graces rather than the swords, which aren't really good quality-wise.

He shopped around for a while but he couldn't find a satisfying sword.

Lecan calculated he had around 70 gold coins when he sorted his possessions yesterday. He was planning to use it all up if he found a good sword, unfortunately there wasn't any.

Lecan decided to look at it from a different angle.

To him a good sword would be the <Self-Repair> sword which he broke. It was a wonderful sword that would repair itself no matter how rough he wielded it. It had no abilities to raise its sharpness or amplify its power, but it fit nicely in his hand and was really easy to wield.

However, he's got give up finding such a nice sword ever again.

In other word, finding that one sword he can use forever is just plain impossible.

Perhaps Lecan would find his new trusty sword at <Sword Dungeon> in the future, but until then he should consider swords as consumables.

Lecan has been holding himself back a bit whenever he wields <Sword of Rusk>. Thinking it would be a waste to break it after all the trouble of finding a nice sword.

That was a mistake.

Swords are to be used. To be brandished to its fullest. He simply needs to change to another sword if one breaks. He's putting the cart before the horse by keeping a nice sword he doesn't fully utilize.

He should buy another handy sword as a reserve, it doesn't have to be as good as <Sword of Rusk>. He'll wield that sword if <Sword of Rusk> breaks. And if that sword also breaks, he'll just buy another sword. He could also make use of swords in his <Storage> during an interval.

Lecan's mind cleared up once he decided on that.

As he went inside a small weapon store with a cleared up mind, Lecan encountered a sword.





Previous Chapter

13





There's something that has been bugging Lecan for a while.

About what Shira said.

She told him that they should only get to floor 21 at most if he's taking Eda to Dungeon Ninae. That's been bugging him all this time.

Shira must consider that floors below floor 21 are too dangerous. That they should not go there until after Eda has been trained enough in coping with danger. Lecan even considered going ahead by himself to see how things are there before letting Eda go down the floor.

But Shira spoke about that in the context of replacing Eda's equipment, during a conversation where they talk about teaching Eda dungeoneering, it was never about making Eda conquer a dungeon for real.

Furthermore, Shira said that even Lecan cannot possibly conquer Dungeon Ninae alone.

Looking at it from another side, that also means it can be conquered if he's not alone.

Meaning, it should be possible if only Lecan works together with Eda.

Of course, in that case, Eda will have to assume the role of a healer. Because that's the role she's best at. However, that would mean it's no longer an excursion for the sake of training Eda, but one where both Eda and Lecan have to risk their lives.

Lecan originally wasn't going to let Eda use <Recovery> this time around. He was planning to train her as an ordinary adventurer. So she could live on by herself once they went separate ways in half a year time.

However, she's with Lecan right now. The role that fits her best in their times dungeon diving together is healer most of all. And Eda herself has learned the basic ability of an adventurer, surprisingly enough. To teach her further, he must make Eda push herself to her limit. If this ends with her dying, then she doesn't have any chance to survive in the future.

Lecan has made his decision.

"Everyone, listen up."

Everyone fell silent, waiting for Lecan to continue.

"First, you Eda."

"Yes."

"You're allowed to use <Recovery> from here on."

"Eeh"

"<Recovery>? Eda-dono, you can use <Recovery>?"

"Not just <Recovery>. Make use of everything you have. Do anything you deem necessary in the situation you're in. Give your maximum contribution for this party to conquer this dungeon."

"Y-yes."

"And let me tell you this, Arios and Heles."

"Yes."

"Umu."

"You must have been bored so far, but I'll have you two keep us company for a bit more."

"Please ask me anything."

"I shall do everything in my power."

"First, as a preparation to explore floors below floor 21, we're gonna conquer floor 20. We'll take down the giant variant there and get the <Mark>."

"No, Lecan-dono. I'm sorry but getting floor 20's <Mark> is simply asking too much. It might be doable with these members, but it would take so much work and we might even lose someone."

"We'll stop if it looks bad, but we're giving it a try. Then once we have the <Mark> we're going back to floor 15. And earn some cash."

"Another big hunt is it."

"That again huh."

"Indeed. However, we will focus everything into getting treasure chests this time around."

"Oho. That sounds quite interesting."

"I do not think that's something you could control however."

"We'll think about it if this fails. Just follow my lead."

"I understand."

"Affirmative."

"Un, I'mma work real hard!"

"Alright. Let's start."


<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >


14





Lecan unleashed his strength without holding back.

In other word, they were on an unstoppable march.

Octocular Great Spiders on floor 18 posses the ability <Stealth>. Unlike human-based mind magic <Invisible> which hides user's figure by tampering with the target's mind, this one is more akin to camouflage. They merge in their surroundings.

It doesn't completely hide their body, you can still hazily make out their presence, but since it's always active, they're invisible most of the time. They would move around swiftly in that state, thus these spiders are hard to deal with. Ordinary adventurers can't even land a hit as they take unseen attacks they can't block.

However, Lecan possess <3D Perceptions>. He's got a perfect grasp on enemy's location.

"Flame Spear <Bandroux>!"

"What"

Heles was taken aback.

While Arios was unflinching to see Lecan unleashing such a powerful magic, perhaps because he had borne witness to the destruction Lecan caused at Goncourt House.

"<Move>."

A magic stone flew to Lecan at once.

Lecan killed all magic beasts in cavities found in three passages while striding ahead, grabbing their magic stones along the way as they went down a floor.

Floor 19 spiders' ability is <Hardening>. Their shell is hard enough to stop bladed instruments. Their normally soft abdomen is unusually elastic which also hinders blades.

"<Flame Spear>!"

However, all of it meant nothing before Lecan. He just kept marching forward while grabbing magic stones flying his way like it was just a literal side job.

Floor 20 spiders' ability is <Warp>. The moment one noticed an approaching human, it would <Warp> around all over the place to attack them. Most adventurers have no mean to oppose this.

Lecan jumped off and landed in the center of a cavity. Urging the spider to use <Warp>.

The spider <Warp>ed.

Lecan turned around and cut off the spider's head the instance it manifested there.

As someone who's capable of casting several spells of space magic, Lecan could sense ripples in space right before it appeared.

Even without that, <3D Perceptions> and his beast-like reflexes would easily deal with it no problem.

Since Lecan couldn't be bothered to fight the giant variant with a sword, he shot out a <Flame Spear> from above its cavity and blew away its head.

"Alright. We got the <Mark>. Let's head back to floor 15."

"Y-yeah. But, this is just, it's just"

"I did say I would help, but I'm not sure if we're even needed here."

"Lecan is really amazing."

"I'm gonna need your help once we go deeper. Now is time to prepare for that."

Afterward, everyone got back to floor 15 and had a meal.

Heles and Arios were shocked.

Lecan had lit up a campfire.

Lecan had bought up a huge amount of firewood in town and put it in his <Storage>.

"Just what's going on with Lecan-dono's <Box> anyway."

"I told you to stop asking that."

Lecan grilled and ate meat.

The sound of popping firewood was reassuring.

You really can't have camp without this.

"Lecan, you really live your life as you please huh."

"That's just how adventurers are."

"Me think Lecan is a special case."

Everyone fell asleep soundly, and got up.

Then the hunt began.

No, you can't call it a hunt anymore.

It's nothing more than harvesting crops.

Each cavity has five lesser Octocular Great Spiders inside. Lecan would shoot out five <Flame Arrow> as he walk past one. <Flame Arrows> would pierce the spiders' hearts, killing them. <Move> then gets cast five times to collect five magic stones. The bodies that have lost their magic stones turn into ash, then after a period of time, new magic beasts respawn.

Lecan repeated this process while absorbing mana from the magic stones he collected.

Eda does the same thing with <Bow of Isya>. She drinks medium blue potions twice whenever she runs out of mana, after the second time, she'll lie down on her side to restore her mana naturally.

Arios and Heles are in charge of collecting magic stones from magic beasts Eda took down. The faster they work at it, the faster the next magic beasts respawn.

Heles isn't wearing her armor anymore. She's got no need for one.

The two would go on to kill magic beasts themselves whenever Eda is resting. Heles could only watch in awe as Arios showed off his swordsmanship to deal with five spiders at once, massacring them with his brilliant strokes of sword.

Whenever Lecan shouts for the order, it's the signal to take a break, have meal and get some sleep.

Thus how the five of them spent five days on floor 15, focusing everything into getting treasure chests.

And these are the results.





Bows, 15.

Arrows, 12.

Shields, 8.

Daggers, 6.

Bracelets, 3.

Longswords, 2.

Many kinds of potions, 22 in total.





Every one of them has Grace.

None of the bows was suitable for Eda. What she needs now isn't a bow with a special ability, but an ordinary bow that grows stronger with the growth of its user.

Some of the arrows had useful Graces like <Sure Hit> and <Explosion>, five were given to Eda.

One of the daggers was very apt for dismantling work, also given to Eda.

One of the bracelets had the <Resist Curse> Grace, another one for Eda.

The potions were split between all four of them. Blue potions are for Eda, while red, yellow and green potions are for Arios and Heles.

Lecan took all the magic stones. They also got one blue purple and one red purple potions, which Lecan claimed.

Once they got back in town, the amount of cash from selling the Grace-ladden equipment exceeded 180 gold coins. One white gold coin and eight big gold coins.

Earning that much in just five days without spending money on expensive consumables or curse grants, and with no loss of weapons or equipment, they truly made a killing. Eda, Arios, and Heles were on the brink of collapsing though. Even Eda missed a lot of her targets near the end.

Eda, Arios, Heles got 50 gold coins each, leaving 30 gold coins for Lecan. The share is only fair since he monopolized the magic stones.

They're taking a break for two days.

Once they're done resting, it'll be time to challenge the middle stratum.




[Episode 16 Dungeon Ninae Upper Stratum] End/ Next [Episode 17 Dungeon Ninae Middle Stratum]




Previous Chapter

Chapter 101 Sea Vacation (1)

 

YIIIYAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

We're currently having our honeymoon right now. Two days one night, us newlyweds are vacationing on the sea of dungeon 7F.





It's been a month since that event.
After that moment on, [Shut-in Lamia] changed into [Izumi Store]. The store's mascot character is naturally Tama-chan. With a bare-footed Mandoragorua drawn next to hers.


Our store's main attractions are medicine and skin lotions. Unlike Dornuko-san's store, ours mainly deals in the expensive ones. As for the sub ones, our catalog lists stuff I made for test runs. Even though I'm not satisfied with those items, Sefi-san and Eleanor-san told me they were good enough to be displayed in the store. It's mostly rings adorned with enchant magic. Well, digging up silver and all kind of metal is easy with a modified magic I created by combining Search Metal and Earth Wall, it's practically natural resources. How it's all free besides the enchant magic catalysts is so wonderful.

How did I, an amateur, end up making all these new medicines anyway. It's all thanks to Sefi-san's guidance and Discerning-sensei. People will consume those medicines after all, the fact that I can confirm its efficacy, quality and safety without a clinical trial speeds things up by a lot. Of course I didn't leave everything up to Sensei. Once I've confirmed that my creations seem safe, I test them on myself before putting them up for sale.



Due to this and that, and the unexpected popularity of our products, it ended up taking longer than expected until the situation at store settled down.

And once it has, we got here.




A vast ocean stretching out as far as eyes can see in the great hall we ignored during our first outing here.

This vacation is supported by a wide-ranged barrier I learned from Futsuno-san to create a safe zone for us.



The how to is quite simple, you there, take note.

1: Put juust enough mana for a long lasting wide ranging barrier to cover from the beach side to the depths of the ocean. And since I ain't gonna let my honeys in their swimsuits be seen by other adventurers, I mix in Space Camouflage to turn it into a special barrier.

2: Can't let the monsters prowl around in the sea so go ahead and shoot out one huge lightning magic to round them up together.

3: Gather item drops from all the monsters that floated up on the ocean to secure ingredients for our lunch, nice.

So, what do you think? Come again, that wasn't helpful at all?

ＨＡＨＡＨＡＨＡＨＡ, I mean yeah whaddya expect, Michael.



Whoops, got too excited for a bit there.

For the time being, I'll put up a sign outside the barrier that says, [Reserved spot. Protected by a barrier, do not enter]. Not a lot of people come here to begin with, but in case there are, I put that sign up so they won't report to the guild about an invisible camouflaged barrier they found. The guild has been informed of this through Eleanor-san too though.


"...Nobu, how do I look?"

Whoops, Mitama is calling.
Okay okay, what's up, OH, amazeball.

That white bikini is too dazzling. The perfect symmetric of those physical objects directly assaulting my eyes.
Their elastic flexibility that leaps and bounds every time she moves turns me into a captive. How her tail is moving around due to her good mood is cute meow.
How do I put this, even though my impression of her consists of her sleeping and eating, Mitama's got the healthiest body of all.
Ah, we brought these swimsuits at Maniwa-san's store.

"You look really good. Not sure if I can hold back from attacking right here and now."

"...Lewd."

Yup, I'm aware. I'm only enduring cuz of my steel self-control.



"Nobu-kun, Nobu-kun, how 'bout me?"

"Aahn, don't forget me Nobu-chan~"

"U-umm, compared to the two I'm... B-but I've tried changing as well."


I turned around and... Futsuno-san in a provocative black micro bikini is emphasizing her breasts toward me on purpose.
She's crouching to show off her cleavage, with upturned eyes. What a frightening girl! I mean, they're spilling out.

Sefi-san is wearing a swimsuit with a pareo, less exposures than the two. Her straw hat completes her summer vacation version. Her completely untanned skin sure brings about a slightly amorous feel to her.

Eleanor-san is in a racerback-like swimsuit. It does look really good on her slender body. Her healthy charm that makes her look like she's about to set a new record is overflowing.




As they lean on my back, twirl around my arms, come from the front, trying all kinds of strategy to appeal, if you're looking for one particular person, she's.


"Ah, milord~. Why am I the only one like this nanoja~?"

Kagura-san is the only one in a school swimsuit, in her little girl mode. The tag name on her chest has big 『Kagura』 written. Classic, just classic.

As it turns out, Kagura-san cannot float up due to her low body fat percentage. Strictly speaking, everything except her breasts can't float. It's weird how her breasts alone aren't muscley with how much muscles she packs, but that's one mystery of woman's body. It's tayun tayun, fuyon fuyon. I suggested her to change into her little girl mode as a potential solution, and it worked. I also made her a swimming ring made of Swimming Viper's leather which has low water resistant just in case.

"It's cause you can't float. That's dangerous in the sea. Besides, I think you look cute like that too, you know?"

"Gu-gunuu. 'Tis the sea after all, I shall endure being able to sort of swim since I cannot swim for real."

Whoosh, Kagura-san ran up to the sea. She dived in together with Mitama. When I asked if the girls could swim, they told me they would usually swim in rivers and stuff during summer (except Kagura-san).



<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >





After swimming for a bit myself, I was relaxing in a handmade hammock when I sensed a presence behind me.


"Nffuffu. Nobu-chaan. Just what are you doing relaxing alone leaving your lovely wives behind~"

"'Rite 'rite, gotta punish this sinful husband!"

Fumoa! Melons are assaulting me in a pincer attack!
What a blissful way to go!
I'm happy and all, but maybe you wanna give some room.
I'm tellin' you, I can't breathe, for real...
Oh crap, feels like I'm seeing things now....








~~Oval Office inside Nobusada's brain~~

President Nobusada "Gentlemen! I love boobs!!"

""""HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA""""

President Nobusada "I love droopy fruit I could hold in these palms! I love massive twin hills! I love lethal weapon-like mountain ranges capable of sending you flying! I love sheepishly covered smallish rotundness! I love every one of them!!!"


""""HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA""""

Nobusada 0083 "President! How about lolita?"

President Nobusada "That will be a nay! Definitely nay! Immature mind and body are just way too much for your president! At least until they hit the marriage age limit of Japan, absolutely not!"

Nobusada 0080 "President! How about loli BBA?"

President Nobusada "That'd be a yay! And it may not be that rare here with long living people like elves and such around."

Nobusada 0093 "So then, what if Kagura-san comes at you in her young girl mode?"

President Nobusada "It should be a yay, but since I'm not sure how my son will react then, let's not go there forever. Hm? What's wrong Nobusada 0079?"

Nobusada 0079 "President! I love boobs, but I also love ass!"

President Nobusada "That's another yay! Your president loves boobs the best, but that doesn't mean he dislikes other parts. Eleanor-san's tight hips are a sight to behold, no?"

Nobusada 0079 "Yes!"



President Nobusada "Well then, gentlemen. Let me hear your voices! Repeat after me!"


President Nobusada "Hail oppai!"

""""HAIL OPPA~I!""""

President Nobusada "Hail boin!"

""""HAIL BO~IN!""""

President Nobusada "Hail chippai!"

""""HAIL CHIPPA~I!""""

President Nobusada "Hail hips!"

""""HAIL HIP~S!""""

President Nobusada "Hail bod!!"

""""HAIL BOD!""""


""""HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA""""








Uwoooh, no no no. I almost limit broke myself to Nirvana due to the extreme bliss there.






Previous Chapter

11





After a full day rest, they went back to the dungeon.

The last dive didn't even earn them four gold coins each.

Lecan himself didn't think it was worth the effort, but according to Heles, it's an amount unheard of for a day's work on floor 11-15.

"Lecan. Are we really gonna stay here for five days?"

"It might take five days. Just keep that in mind."

"But there's a lot of people who comes back above ground every day in this dungeon right? I mean we'll need lotsa food to do lotsa exploring, and the bags to put stuff get full too."

"Eda."

"Yeah?"

"You should closely watch how other adventurers do things. You may learn something from them."

"Un."

"But do not imitate them."

"Eh?"

Eda pondered what that meant as she walked, but since it looked like she didn't get it, Arios chimed in.

"Eda-san. Our party's not like those other parties, are we?"

"Un. Lots of things are different."

"Therefore, what may work with other parties won't necessarily work with us."

"Un. I'm sure that's true."

"And there might be stuff that does suit us."

"There might be yep."

"And what works here might not go over well somewhere else."

"But you can just mimic the other party if you're with them."

"Can someone who always goes back above ground every single day be expected to explore a dungeon for a whole week straight all of a sudden?"

"Ah. I guess they can't."

"Right, they can't. And in the end, you end up only imitating things that can feasibly be imitated."

"Make sense."

"Doing the same thing someone does will only afford you to the same floor as that someone. It might be even shallower if you cannot perfectly imitate that someone. You'll never get to a deeper floor than them, never get any stronger than them."

"Un. Sounds about right."

"Besides, you may find out that you can't copy something even if you want to."

"What do you mean?"

"You saw how someone make a soup by putting in water and meat thus you tried to follow their example, but you had no idea that you should also put salt in so you didn't, how would it end up tasting?"

"Uweeh. That'd taste awful."

"Imitating only the forms won't get you anywhere. You also have to understand what you are doing. I believe that's what Lecan-san means by not imitating them."

"Un! Got it. Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

They went past floor 15 while they were talking, going downstairs arriving at floor 16.

"Now then, what kind of magic beasts are on floor 16?"

"For the next five floors from here onward, variants of lesser Octoular Great Spiders fill those floors. The variant on floor 16 has the ability <Giant>."

"Hou?"

"Their size is about twice as big as the spiders on floor 15."

"Eeeeh? Is it really that big?"

"They move a bit slower, I believe. But their size alone is quite a menace in itself."

After looking at one in person, it is indeed big. However, Lecan couldn't sense a pressure befitting of its size coming from it.

"Eda, shoot an arrow at it."

"Un."

Eda's arrow pierced the magic beast's heart. But it wouldn't die. It's enraged, shaking its body violently.

"Fumu. <Flame Arrow>!"

The magic beast stopped moving once Lecan's magic pierced its heart.

"Did that kill it? Surely not."

"No, I think it did."

"As expected of Lecan."

"<Move>!"

A magic stone came flying.

"You can fight them if you want, but it's not that fun. Eda."

"Un."

"If you're forced to fight this magic beast, do not assume vanguard position."

"Vanguard?"

"Being on the front. Not on the front means you've got to fall back. The only thing you can do in this case is baiting the magic beast with <Bow of Isya> from behind. A short sword cannot block an attack from that thing."

"Un."

"This magic beast isn't one you can fight with a sword or a bow. Use a shield and spear, or lure it somewhere a mage can defeat it. If you don't have someone that fits those roles in your party, do not engage these magic beasts. It's however possible bend this rule by making use of curse or poison on arrows, just not with <Bow of Isya>."

"I gotcha, Lecan."

"Let's proceed to the next floor."

Eda can actually defeat this magic beast with bows and arrows Lecan has hoarded in his <Storage>. However, Lecan's got no intention of handing them over.

And right as they walked off, Lecan suddenly stopped beside a cavity.

"Hold it."

"Eh?"

"Eda. You can send out <Sleep> now, right."

"Un."

"Can it hit that magic beast from here."

"Think it will if I just get a wee bit closer."

"Give it a try."

"Un."

Eda got down the slope, stopped midway down, and held out her right palm toward the magic beast.

"<Sleep>!"

After a slight while, the spider crumbled down.

"Alright. Arios, Heles. The spider's been put under <Sleep>. Kill it off."

"Yes."

"Both Lecan-dono and Eda-dono require not a wand nor preliminary casting, do you."

"Quit dawdling. Forget the mats. Just grab the magic stone."



<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

12





The lesser variant of Octocular Great Spiders on floor 17 has the ability <Quickfeet>.

However, they don't move much until an enemy gets close to them. Meaning, use ranged attacks from above the cavity if you can.

Since its vital spot is extremely small, killing them with one hit proves difficult, however a hit from poison arrow will stop these spiders from moving. Afterward, simply finish it off with swords and spears.

A lot of adventurers adopted one such method. This floor is a hunting ground.

Lecan's group went down a floor as to not get in the way of those adventurers.

From floor 18 to floor 20 are unpopular destinations. Especially floor 20, the magic beasts posses <Warp>, an ability that allows them to instantaneously move all over the place without warning, practically no adventurer would go and challenge them.

Lecan's party went to floor 18 and had a meal there.

"Eda-dono, you're amazing. I had underestimated you. You could even use <Sleep> on top of your astounding accuracy with that magic bow. And you must be an expert at it to send out <Sleep> from that far away. That is quite an accomplishment at your age."

"Ehehehehe."

Lecan is sipping his tea with a displeased look on his face from a distance, slightly away from everyone else.

Arios walked up next to him and initiated a conversation in a low voice.

"Lecan-san. It seems to me you haven't found a floor that works, correct?"

"Yea. Lesser Octocular Great Spiders are too powerful strength-wise, and too big size-wise, they're no good as Eda's practical combat opponents. And these mortar-shaped nests aren't good too. You can snipe them from afar."

"Hmmm. To Lecan-san, does being good for Eda-san mean an environment where she can practice detecting enemies and dodging relatively dangerous but non-life threatening attacks?"

"Right."

"You're too overprotective."

"What"

"I understand that Lecan-san wishes to forge Eda-san. Eda-san possesses the potential that could transform her into an indispensable rear guard, but that's not enough, you also wishes for her to obtain the strength to at least brush away sparks of fire that go her way, correct?"

"Right."

"Then I can understand why you want her to learn how to dodge and defend herself. And if only she could detect enemies on top of all that, you believe that she would have more roles to pick in a party and could even go solo to a degree, right?"

"Right."

"But, do you truly believe combats with no risk to one's life could teach her how to dodge and how to protect herself?"

"Mwu."

"Do you believe she could blossom to new strength in fights that do not afford her to go all out?"

"Afford to go all out?"

"Yes. So far, Eda-san defeated all the magic beasts with your instructions such as shooting with her bow or casting <Sleep>. However, she has not unleashed her full potential yet. And full potential here includes the strength to decide which ability best used in which situation."

"That's true."

"Lecan-san, Heles-san and I haven't demonstrated the extent of our powers either."

"Yea."

"That's not good at all. Eda-san won't wake up to her instinct if we don't get in a situation where all of us are forced to unleash at least 80% of our strength."

"Instinct huh."

"Pardon me for overstepping my bound."

"No. I owe you one."






Previous Chapter

9





"Uwaah. It's so big."

"Fumu. Eda, try to shoot at it with <Bow of Isya>."

"Okay."

"If it comes up enraged, I'll take care of it."

"Gotcha. OK, I'm shooting."

She manifested an arrow like usual, pulled the bowstring and released.

The arrow went straight to the spider's abdomen piercing it, and then the spider keeled over just like that.

"It's dead."

"It died."

"I cannot believe my eye. Defeating that thing in one shot."

"Ehehe."

"Eda-dono. How are you able to so accurately know where its heart was?"

"Uun. I think it's thanks to my training at a medical center. I just sent out my mana to probe the spider's body, then I felt like 'over here'."

"What? I never heard of such thing."

"Ah, I see. It's the same principle as that huh."

"Arios-dono. What do you mean by that."

"It's one of the secret arts of my sword school. I can't tell you more than that."

"Secret Arts? At your age?"

"My age Heles-san imagined is most likely very much off."

"Then, how old are you Arios-dono."

"That's a secret."

"<Move>."

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

The spider's magic stone drifted off in the air before stopping in Lecan's palm.

It's a mid-sized magic stone. Should fetch a good price. Lecan plans to use it himself though.

"L-Lecan-dono. What did you just"

"<Move> magic."

"No no, that's not right. <Move> magic cannot be used on objects so far away like that."

"Really? File your complaint to my mentor."

"Who would be your magic mentor?"

"That's a secret."

"I can't file a complaint then."

"By the way, which parts of Octocular Great Spider sell."
<TLN: Previously Eighteyed Great Spider.>

"Those eye patterns especially. Its entire abdomen's membrane also sell for a good price. Its head and legs can be used to make armor. And of course its thread can be sold as well. The quality of lesser variant's thread is the same as the original. It fetches a nice price. However, getting your hand on it is an arduous task. Its venom sac commands a premium as well."

"Fumu. I'll see how it goes next. Eda, you stay put. Watch closely."

"I got it."

Lecan walked down a cavity next to this one.

An Octocular Great Spider inside came attacking when he got close to it.

It launched its assault while erratically moving its legs and mouth all over.

Lecan himself just kept effortlessly dodging the spider's assault without drawing his sword.

When the spider raised its leg up high, the height of the leg's tip easily exceeded three times Lecan's stature. A swung from that height would pulverize even rocks.

That said, for a battle-hardened adventurer like Lecan, this degree of attacks is nothing to fear of.

The spider's onslaught at Lecan was not unlike a dance performance.

Right as both the spider's left forelegs intensely struck each other, it swiftly twisted its body stretching out its mouth, with vibrating jaws, it made a headlong rush forward in an attempt to bite Lecan off. Or so it looked like, instead it twisted itself and tried to lock Lecan between its two right forelegs.

When even that attack got easily dodged, the spider raised its upper half with the support of its four hind legs before jumping forward to flatten Lecan.

When it found out that even that didn't work, it spun around 180 degree and shot thread out of its rear.

There's no lag time like with Spotted Spiders. Thread flew out the moment it reared its ugly butt. And the thread didn't fly straight, but spread out in all directions. Getting into the slightest contact with the thread would have Lecan stuck in the sticky web, yet he dodged it like he was slipping by.

This dance between the spider and Lecan continued on for a while.

Lecan eventually drew <Sword of Rusk> and cut off four of the spider's hind legs on both sides.

The spider totteringly turned around, aimed its rear at Lecan lifted its rear with four of its forelegs and shot out thread.

Lecan sheathed his sword and dodged the thread.

Eventually, quantity of shot thread decreased.

"<Flame Arrow>!"

A heat spell Lecan shot out of his forefinger twisted and changed its trajectory above the spider before landing on its heart located above its abdomen.

(It's true.)

(By sending forth your mana and using it as a probe.)

(You can clearly tell where the heart is.)

(But to think I would be taught by Eda.)

"<Move>."

After collecting the magic stone, Lecan waited for the thread to lose its stickiness before climbing up the slope.

"Are you by any chance, a magic swordsman?"

"I'm an adventurer."

"Master Lecan. Didn't your <Flame Arrow> twist back then?"

"Quit it with that master thing."

"I understand. Lecan-san."

"Arios-kun. Wasn't it 'Lecan-dono'?"

"Since that would make me overlap with Heles-san, I will have to refrain for the time being."

"What's up with that."

"Eda."

"Yes."

"How do you think that spider moved?"

"It's got several attack patterns. Either by attacking with its right two forelegs, or its two left forelegs or its mouth. And lastly, it shoots out thread from its butt."

"Hm. Then how would you go about defeating one?"

"I'll do it like Lecan did, I'll cut off its four hind legs, then I just gotta kill it once it's done shooting web."

"How do you defeat one if you fight together with Arios?"

"Think Imma lure the spider forward, then Arios-kun can cut its hind legs from behind."

"How do you finish it off."

"I can't kill that magic beast if I have to fight alone and without my bow. But if I'm with Arios-kun, I just gotta jump up high and attack its heart. Or I could also lure it from behind and Arios-kun can attack its head."

"Alright. Go with that. Arios."

"Yes."

"Try killing one together with Eda. Get as many mats as you can."

"Understood."



<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

10





"The battle itself was easy, but stripping those mats off it was so much work."

"That's just how it is."

"The <Box> Heles-san got us is running out of space, you know."

"Forgive me. I never imagined it would be used to store entire bodies."

"My <Box> still has a lot of room available."

"Arios-dono."

"Yes."

"That's quite a nice sword you have got there."

"That it is."

"Would you let me see it."

"I'm sorry. I refuse."

"I see. No well, I fully understand. To a swordsman, their sword is not something that can be easily entrusted to someone else."

"It's exactly as you said."

"So you've been taught of such philosophy too."

"Well, I suppose."

"Now then, time to earn some pocket money."

"Lecan. What do you mean earn?"

"Heles."

"What can I help?"

"According to the handbook, this floor's got one Octocular Great Spider, floor 12's got two, floor 13's got three, so there's only more of them?"

"That's right. From here to floor 15, the magic beasts themselves are exactly the same, only their numbers increase."

"There's quite a lot of adventurers on this floor, what about downstairs?"

"There's less of adventurers below. Engaging multiple of those spiders in a combat only raises the risk you carry. This floor is the most popular floor because you only need to fight one at a time."

"Hou. Does that mean there's a few people on floor 15?"

"It's virtually unpopulated."

"Alright. We're heading for floor 15. Forget about mats. Just grab the magic stones."

They started excessively hunting for Octocular Great Spiders on floor 15.

Eda with <Bow of Isya>, Lecan with <Flame Arrows> kept killing the magic beasts one after another.

Arios and Heles would alternately retrieve magic stones from magic beasts Eda defeated.

Lecan retrieved his magic stones by using <Move> from above.

Heles quickly threw the towel.

Climbing up a slope wearing armor is quite tasking. And Eda is killing magic beasts at fast pace.

"You're useless."

"Haa, haa. E-easy, f, for you to say, haa, haa."

"Lecan. Don't say that. Heles-san has her good points too, I'm telling you."

"Where."

"Hmm, lesse. She knows so much about magic beasts!"

Heles said this floor was virtually unpopulated, however, there was actually one other party hunting here. That party did their hunt by having an archer shoot out cursed arrows from above, then two spear-users would go down the cavity to finish the spiders off, and then two swordsmen would retrieve magic stones and carve out mats.

Ordinarily, you wouldn't know this since they were far apart. Lecan only found out thanks to his special ability.

That party seemed puzzled at how Lecan's group were doing things, but since they ran out of cursed arrows, they went back.

"Ah."

"What's wrong, Eda."

"Something popped up."

A treasure chest showed up. There's a dagger inside.

"<Appraisal>"

"What? You can even use <Appraisal>, Lecan-dono?"

"As expected of Master."





<Name: Dagger of Svers.>

<Type: Dagger.>

<Grace: Paralyze Buff.>

※ Foes wounded by this dagger may get paralyzed with a certain chance





"This thing's unusable. To the sell bin it goes."

"So so? What kind of dagger is it?"

"It has a set chance to paralyze the enemy it damages."

"Ooh. Must be <Dagger of Svers>. That ability works even on Octocular Great Spiders on floor 31 and below. You throw the dagger at them, then they'll get paralyzed if you're lucky."

"What's the success rate."

"I think it's one in five. You'd want to use more than one, ideally several daggers."

"Who needs such unreliable stuff. Sell this thing off."

By the end, they got three medium red potions, and two medium blue potions. And a lot of magic stones. They defeated giant variants twice to create a <Mark>.

"Alright. We're done with today's exploration. Heles."

"Umu."

"Sorry, but you go sell that dagger and mats. Take Eda with you."

"Got it."

"Eda."

"Yes."

"Split the money for all four of us."

"I got it. Should I buy a bow with the money?"

"No. Don't buy one yet. Keep using <Bow of Isya> as long as you can for now. Some nice bows could pop up if we're lucky."

"Got it."

It was already nighttime when they were out.

"Let's have a meal before going back to inn. Selling stuff will be for tomorrow. We're taking a full break tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, we're diving in first thing in the morning. I plan to explore for three to five days, make sure you're ready."

"Three to five days? No. Very well. I'd like to sell the mats ASAP. Do you mind if I do that now?"

"Are there any shop open at this hour?"

"There are some."

"Go on then. We're going on ahead to <Jade's Restaurant>."

"We'll be off, Lecan."

"Yea."

That day, Lecan didn't drink much, ate a bit and went back to sleep.

Heles had moved to their inn the day after she was let in the party. All while complaining about how cheap their inn was when they would eat at such a nice restaurant.







Previous Chapter