arc03 · 048-ep42

Episode 42: Onward to Floor 11

After school.

Blazed home like always, then headed for the dungeon.

I ate every last bite of the bento Azuma gave me and hung the empty lunch box on her door. Getting waylaid before dungeon time would be a pain, after all.

I sent my thanks over chat too, along with word that I won't be needing another—should be fine.

And so I arrive at the guild——

"Hm? Is somebody watching me?"

Ever since I stepped into the guild, I've been catching multiple sets of eyes on me.

Not the sticky, lingering kind—more the furtive glances, sizing up the situation.

For now, reception. I'll ask Sakurai-san.

"Hey there, Sakurai-san."

"Hello. Right on schedule, I see. Exploring the dungeon today as well?"

"Yeah, more or less. By the way—people keep glancing over at me. Do you know what that's about?"

"Ah………… let's see. It seems someone happened to witness your promotion to C-rank yesterday, and it's become a bit of a topic of talk. My apologies."

"Ah, no, no. It's nothing you did, Sakurai-san. You kept your voice down so nobody around would catch it. The fault lies with whoever eavesdropped and ran their mouth."

"I'm relieved to hear you say that. For what it's worth, I gave the source of the rumor and those in the know a subtle threat——no, a warning—so I don't imagine anyone will try anything."

"Huh?"

Did I just feel a hint of pressure there?

...Sakurai-san seems like she'd be terrifying if you got on her bad side.

"Then—do enjoy your exploration. I'll be waiting for your safe return, Takeru-san."

"Ah, right. I'm off."

She hands back the guild card I'd been holding out for verification, and permission to enter the dungeon comes through.

Never thought the Sakurai-san who started out insanely by-the-book would end up calling me by name.

Well, show up every day and that 'mere-exposure effect' thing works its magic, I suppose. Come to think of it—what was Sakurai-san's given name again? Eh. Sakurai-san suits me fine.

Saa—let's give it our all again today, shall we!

◇

And here I am—Floor 11.

Man, teleport circles are convenient.

So glad it never came to running this far every single time.

I mean, the distance down here is a full 110 km. That's the shortest straight-line route. The real path is longer, and footing and visibility are both awful. I'm used to it by now, but it's still a sizeable chunk of wasted time. All praise the teleport circle.

Now then—Floor 11, reached the easy way——and the difficulty looks to have changed in a big way. For one thing, there's a fork practically at the entrance that already splits three ways, and there's no telling which branch connects to the right answer. I could look up intel this basic, sure, but that would cut into the fun of exploring.

Thanks to 【Movement Arts】, I've got my simple map, so getting lost isn't the issue... Honestly, though, without a map-type skill this looks pretty rough. Parties without one apparently draw their own maps and take notes as they go—that's got to be brutal. Which is exactly why parties assign roles and consult each other over which skills to pick up. I hear a lot of people exploring on hand-drawn maps end up learning 【Map】 around level 20 or 30. Pack-mule-type skills seem to be popular around the same time too—【Weight Reduction】 and the like.

And so, before we even get to the monsters, the dungeon's structure has already spiked the difficulty.

I'll take it slow and search every last corner, filling in the map as I go.

The fork is neatly divided left, straight, right—but nothing sets them apart, so I decide to just work through them in order from the left.

Besides, even if I hit the right path on the first pick, I'd be coming back to fill in the map anyway. Either choice ends the same.

The ceiling is high—looks a good 10 meters up. Each branch looks wide enough for two or three lanes, so one look tells you Floor 11 opens up far wider than anything before it.

Same rock-wall coverage as ever, but plants and minerals are clearly cropping up in greater numbers. A hazy purple glow like amethyst shimmers here and there. It has its own charm—different from the glow moss on Floor 1. Trouble is, whatever's making that light also seems to give off some sort of poison; passing close by left me feeling just slightly queasy.

"Crud... I've got zero countermeasures prepared for this kind of environment..."

It had slipped my mind entirely, since no hazards like this ever showed up before. There was monster poison in the shallow floors, I suppose—the giant venomous spider's, which fades with time—but dodging it made that a non-issue in the first place...

This much is nothing to worry about, but I need to think up countermeasures for the undodgeable kind—poison sprayed across a wide area. For now, asking Aizawa yet again is the only option on the table.

So, on I go along the path————and at last, a monster makes its entrance.

My first encounter on Floor 11: a rock golem, about 3 meters tall.

It prowls around, blocking the road.

THUD——THUD——

With a body and footsteps that size, there's no missing it.

Me? I've got the usual perception-interference and presence-concealment talismans up, so I'm closing in without being noticed. This assassin style works just fine on Floor 11, apparently. Still, no letting my guard down—deeper in, there could be things with sharp senses for presence, or things even I can't detect.

Okay—flank secured. Time to start punching.

Well, with a target that big, I'm aiming for the legs. Wreck its footing, and the core in its chest—the vital point—gets easier to pound.

Its durability is hard to read, so for starters I channel just a pinch of mana and try to smash it, hakkei-style.

"————HAH!"

WHAM!

Just like the turtle's shell, the rock-built leg shatters to pieces and scatters.

"Yes! With 【Iron Demon】 and 【Martial Arts】, attack power is plenty covered!"

Hardness-wise, I doubt Floor 11 will throw anything tougher than this at me very often. ...It won't, right?

Well, assuming that holds... attack power looks safe to stop worrying about for a while.

Smashed its legs, sure—that doesn't mean the rock golem is down.

"Grrrrrrr."

"It's... saying something?"

No sooner had that speech-like rumble reached my ears than the ground around my feet heaved up with force.

Magic—!

WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!

Rocks sprout one after another—from the ground at my feet, from the ceiling.

And alongside its magic, it starts swinging those arms around, trying to smash them down on me.

Whoa!? It is out for blood!

Getting caught between them, or skewered, would hurt bad.

I peel away instantly and, riding 【Movement Arts】, race across the rocks and ceiling in every direction.

Then, dropping from above the golem's head—right straight, dead on the core in its chest!

WHAMM!!

Even with the sound-dampening coating muffling everything as much as possible, the crack of a shattering core and rock won't be erased, apparently.

The golem crumbles, little by little turning into motes of light. Subjugation, complete.

"Hm... not a bad start."

I flex my fingers open and shut, checking the feel, then pick up the magic stone and press deeper.

Heh. Yeah—this is what dungeons are supposed to feel like.

Can't wait for what's ahead!