arc01 · 008-ep8
Episode 8: Exploring Floor 4
Pressing on, I found a giant venomous spider. Obviously a different individual from yesterday's, but this was my rematch.
Keeping watch on my surroundings, I approached—and it noticed me too, firing thread at me.
"Hah!"
With a step-in clearly faster than yesterday's, I closed the distance in one burst.
The flustered spider leapt to break away, but I cracked its leg in that same instant. Its posture collapsed, and as it toppled sideways, I followed up.
The main body's softer than the legs—two hits in, and it dissolved into motes of light.
"You're kidding me—it makes this much of a difference?!"
It was so anticlimactic it honestly felt like a bit of a letdown, but either way, rematch won.
I scooped up the magic stone and moved on.
After that I fought bats and spiders several more times, and without a hint of a struggle, I racked up flawless, zero-damage victories. 【Martial Arts】 is too great for words.
I hit level 11, too—smooth sailing, all of it.
I spot other adventurers here and there, but they're basically all older than me.
Most of them move in parties, so I draw a little attention. Nobody actually bothers me, but I'd better keep an eye on humans too as I go.
It's that big a floor. There are areas with no people at all. For now, I decided to head that way.
◇
Walking on, I ran into a turtle.
Turtles are apparently pretty rare. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen anyone fighting one, either.
Right—rematch time for me too.
I closed in and tried to smack its head, but by the time I'd wound up, the head was already gone.
This thing is way, way too defense-specialized. Its attack method should be biting, but if it hides its head, it can't even attack……
No help for it, so I swung the steel pipe down at the shell again.
The blow carried way more force than it would have before today, but the turtle didn't budge a millimeter. Instead, my steel pipe got flattened in a single hit, so I decided to keep skipping these for now. One day, when my level's higher and my weapon's better, I'm absolutely flattening one back. Apparently the shells they drop sell for good money.
So, revenge attempt failed. What a shame.
Shaking it off, I pressed further on and stumbled onto a spot with tons of people. I thought I'd come the direction with fewer people… is there something here?
Maybe I'll go ask.
"Um, excuse me. Everyone seems to be gathered here—is there something at this spot?"
"Hm? What is it, squirt? …You solo? Rare sight. This here's a mining spot, as you can see."
"Huh? All these people came to mine?"
"Nah, nah—half are miners, half are guards and pack mules. Yours truly's one of the guards. We pick monster-light areas, so mostly I'm just standing around."
"Ah, gotcha. I came the direction with fewer people, and it turns out fewer monsters too."
"It's sparse to begin with, plus we hunt whatever strays in along the way. There's other crews like ours scattered around too—the veterans naturally steer clear, I'd wager."
"I see… thank you for explaining."
"Ah, forget about it. Like I said, I'm bored out of my skull. Besides, you just made D-rank, right? Solo D-rank at your age—that's a promising sign. Doesn't hurt to bank a favor."
"Haha, I'll work hard so I can pay it back someday."
I gave the veteran adventurer uncle a quick bow and left the spot behind.
I see. Adventurer work really isn't only about fighting. If you can earn without battling monsters, plenty of people would rather do that. Me, I want to be the strongest, so I intend to keep fighting either way.
◇
Once I'd put plenty of distance between me and their crew, monsters started popping up here and there again.
And then, at last, the wind wolf appeared.
"Ohh! A wolf! I've been waiting to meet you, man."
Because this thing uses magic. Real unfair for a four-legged monster.
Above all, I wanted to see magic in the flesh, so the wind wolf was the monster I'd been most hyped for on this floor.
"Come on, hit me with it. Show me that magic!"
"Grrrrrrrr."
It looks cool, too—way more hyped than for any enemy so far!
"That's it! Hurry up or I'm gonna flatten you first!"
Steel pipe raised, I closed in.
Then, while we were still a good distance apart, the wolf arched its upper body back and made a raking motion with a foreleg.
In that instant, something glowing pale green came streaking toward me at high speed.
"Whoa—!"
I dodged on reflex, but that had to be wind magic.
"That's SO COOOOOL!!!"
I'm so jealous! I want that too, dammit!
Ugh, fine—jealousy-flavored beating, coming right up. Use all the magic you want; my speed and power are still above yours!
WHAM!
A dull thud—damage dealt. It didn't go down, but its movements visibly dulled. Once more.
WHUMP!
The follow-up connected, and it dissolved into motes of light.
Heh. Total victory.
Magic is definitely cool, but with my AGI, dodging it is easy—not that scary, honestly. If anything, the bats' ultrasonic waves are more of a pain because you can't see them. Though even those are no problem as long as you keep moving and stay on their flank. Which means, okay: this floor's fine except for the turtles.
So, time to get leveling and money-making.
10 p.m. I'd hunted a whole lot, my bag had filled up, and my spare steel pipe had started to bend, so I called it a day.
There were times reinforcements showed up drawn by the sounds of battle, but by processing one enemy fast, I never let a two-on-one form and handled things with room to spare.
On this floor they don't come in groups yet, so I should be safe for a while.
I jogged back out, had the guild cash in today's haul, and went home.
And here's what my stats look like now.
************************
【Name】 Kobayakawa Takeru
【Level】 12
【Status】
・HP: 320 / 320
・MP: 42 / 42
・STR: 61
・VIT: 60
・AGI: 92
・DEX: 61
・INT: 55
・LUK: 4
【Held Skills】
・Plunder
・Martial Arts (Lv. 1)
【SP】 4
************************
I've gotten quite a bit stronger. AGI's about to crest the big 100. The rest are pretty high compared to other adventurers at my level too, so on stats alone, I'd call it overwhelming, honestly.
For your average adventurer, STR through INT apparently rise 2–3 per level. LUK doesn't rise for anyone, so ignore that. Then, depending on combat style and aptitude, whatever stat you lean toward goes up 4–5. Considering the average level-1 adventurer sits near 10 in every stat, a level 12 should top out around 40–50 per stat, at best?
Thinking about it again like that—damn, I'm strong. There's a theory that solo players level faster, but the danger's higher too. Everyone must be prioritizing safety, just like I thought. Which means the higher I climb, the further I leave them all behind.
【Plunder】 forced me into solo play, but turns out this path was the right one.
Thanks, 【Plunder】-kun. …Wait, is gratitude even the right response here?
Take a page from 【Martial Arts】-sensei's book and step it up, 【Plunder】-kun.