The seventeenth floor.
They were fighting skeletons to test their new weapons and equipment.
Momoyama put away her bow and arrows and attacked a skeleton with a dagger.
She rapidly approached it, making use of her abilities boosted by the Enchanter skill, and the skeleton swung its iron club at her. She dodged by going under it, and targeted a joint on its main leg, its right, and destroyed it. And as the skeleton fell, she cut its neck.
“Yes, it feels good.”
She said with a smile.
The Enchanter skill’s boost helped for sure, but she could definitely fight up close.
Archers become weak the moment their opponent got close to them, and it seemed her choice of using a dagger as a countermeasure was correct.
“It looks good for you.”
“Will this ease some of the pressure on the front line?”
“Yes, it’s enough. And it looks like Mimori feels the same.”
The biggest issue with fighting kobolds was the direct attacks to the back row. The front line letting them through in the first place meant they were not strong enough, but having only Kokonoe’s magic as a means for the back row to defend themselves made them uneasy, so they had to find ways to resist them.
Momoyama chose a dagger, and Mimori a shield half her size.
“Eek!”
She blocked a skeleton’s sword with her shield, and held her ground.
She could step forward just before the impact, and pull back to soften it. But that was a tall order for someone using a shield for the first time.
She kept doing her best to block the attacks, whether they were downward swings, horizontal sweeps, or thrusts.
She was not as dexterous as Momoyama, or a powerhouse. She thought about using a weapon, but was not confident in her ability to use it well.
And the day she decided to use a shield, all she did for practice was attaching a handle to a magazine. She did not attend one of the short courses in the guild.
However, she was still able to block attacks from the skeleton, mostly because she cast the Enchanter skill on herself. She was basically just powering through it, but it worked.
“Ahh, ahh, ahh…”
“That’s enough.”
Kanba approached the skeleton and destroyed its waist with a swing.
Mimori was about to fall to her knees, breathing heavily after defending against the skeleton’s attacks for that long.
“Not bad, Fuyo! Do you think you could be a tank?”
“Ahh, ahh… No way.”
It was a lot harder than she expected.
She saw Hino and Kanba moving around like it was no big deal, so she figured she could do it as well. But just moving the shield and the nervousness that came with blocking attacks were enough to sap her stamina, and she lasted only five minutes.
“I think you’ll do a good job defending yourself once you get used to it. And get more stamina.”
Kanba put away her sword, and gave Mimori homework.
As Mimori regretted picking a shield.
◇ ◇ ◇
“I wonder if Tanaka had an irregular encounter.”
They took a break, and then headed somewhere they could mine. And as they walked, they mostly talked about Tanaka.
“At least once. He wouldn’t be able to explore on his own otherwise.”
Hino said to Momoyama.
An irregular encounter was when a large number of monsters attacked at once, or one powerful unique monster.
They were hard to get through, and many seekers lost their lives to them, but the reward for clearing an irregular encounter was big.
A powerful weapon or equipment, new skills.
Weapons and equipment could be worth anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions, staggering amounts. And new skills were reassuring for future explorations.
Tanaka was strong enough that it made sense for him to have these.
“Are you saying it happened to him multiple times? That’s too much, he wouldn’t survive.”
Kokonoe was skeptical.
All seekers knew the threat monsters possessed, and there was no way a solo seeker could take down large groups or monsters that were stronger than bosses.
“There’s no reason to believe it happened after the tenth floor. Tanaka said he’s been exploring alone since the first floor, so it could have happened before the eighth.”
The eighth floor was when numbing moths started appearing.
Kanba figured it was possible to clear groups of the monsters that appeared up to that point, or an irregular.
“Hn, let’s ask next time we see him. Ah, a treasure chest.”
Mimori pointed to a big square treasure chest.
It was right in the middle of the floor they were passing through, like it just appeared.
“…Is it a trap?”
“It sure looks like one.”
“Should we leave it?”
“That would be a waste.”
“It sure would! Let’s open it! Right away!”
Mimori was raring to go.
A treasure chest was basically a box packed with money. And something someone who had not recouped her initial investment would definitely want.
“Calm down, Fuyo. It won’t run away.”
“Kokonoe, is there some sort of magic trap?”
“It looks like there is something, but I can’t disarm it or see what kind of trap it is.”
It was not possible to disarm it. Last time, they triggered a teleportation trap, sending everyone to a different location. That was an accident brought about by ignorance.
After that, they all took a course on traps to learn what kind of traps there were. But that short course was not enough time to learn how to disarm them.
At most, if there was a teleport trap, Kokonoe could sense it since she was sensitive to magic energy.
So basically, if they were to play it safe, they could give up on the treasure chest. Or they could brave the risk and take it.
“What should we do, Touya?”
It was the leader’s job to make the call.
Would he prioritize the party’s safety, or take the treasure and the danger that came with it?
“…Let’s not do it now. We can open treasure chests after we learn how to disarm traps.”
No one complained to Hino about prioritizing safety over profit.
One person was crying, but did not object.
But it was not just the treasure chest that had traps. They were around it as well.
The course touched on that a little, which meant it did not leave a big impression.
And so, as Mimori took a step closer to it, feeling reluctant to leave it, the trap activated.
The scene changed. That was a good way to describe how the place they were changed.
They were in a big room without an exit. The only thing that stayed the same was the treasure chest.
“What!?”
“What happened!? What happened!?”
“Calm down! Something’s here!”
Someone yelled at Kokonoe and Mimori as they panicked, and something walked towards them.
It was a four-armed skeleton. It was bigger than a regular skeleton, its four hands all held swords, and it had what appeared to be a knight’s armor.
Regular skeletons rattled as they walked, but not this one.
Everyone silently watched it.
“…It’s a greater skeleton.”
Whispered Kanba.
It was clearly a unique monster. An irregular encounter with a very low chance of survival.
“It’s coming!”
Called out Hino, and everyone got ready.
“Attack boost! Defense boost! Speed boost! Spirit stabilization…! Kya!?”
Fuyo cast buffs, when suddenly the greater skeleton closed the distance with one step and blew back the two on the front line by sweeping them with two swords.
Mimori’s Enchanter was cut off, but she did succeed in casting the minimum buffs, and Hino and Kanba managed to block the attack.
But they could not escape the impact from being blown back, although they managed to swiftly get back on their feet after rolling on the ground.
With the front line out of its way, it seemed the greater skeleton was headed to the back row, but he paid no heed to the three of them, and its attention stayed on the two that were getting up.
But that did not mean it was leaving them alone.
The greater skeleton’s shadow grew, and three skeletons creeped out of it. They made loud rattling noises as they took aim at the back row, and pulled weapons from the shadows to attack.
◇ ◇ ◇
Hino was calm in face of a higher level of monster.
Was it an effect of Mimori’s Enchanter? Next to him, Kanba also seemed calm, as she thought about what to do.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Both ran at the same time, and the greater skeleton met them head on.
Sparks flew as their weapons clashed, and the intensity gradually grew.
There was no time to breathe, the attacks continued in a frenzy.
Two people and a monster wielding four swords continued to strike as if testing the other’s skill.
Both were at a standstill at first, but Hino and Kanba used their numerical advantage to move left and right as they attacked.
It seemed the greater skeleton thought this was annoying, the greater skeleton forced them to pull back by twisting its body and swinging its swords at the same time.
“Ahh… Is it too strong?”
“We wouldn’t stand a chance without being buffed by Enchanter.”
They once again felt how big Enchanter was.
A chill ran down their spines as they pictured themselves in this position without Fuyo Mimori’s Enchanter. Surely they would have been killed by the greater skeleton without any resistance.
The greater skeleton held up its swords again, readying to come at them.
“…Touya.”
“What?”
“I’ll give you thirty seconds to prepare.”
“…I’ll join you if it looks like you’re in danger.”
Kanba stepped forward to face the greater skeleton alone.
It exuded pressure as it looked down at her, but that was not enough to shake her.
She was within its reach, but it did not make a move. She slowly closed the distance, and suddenly, it started.
Even more intense sparks flew, as the speed of the swings grew by one or two magnitudes. They were both done with testing the other.
Kanba, who had the Swordsmanship skill, was the strongest in the party led by Hino.
Her balance between attack and defense was good, and her senses as a front line fighter and her experience fighting monsters both nurtured her power.
When Fuyo’s Enchanter was added to the mix, it meant she could even block the swords of a superior monster like this greater skeleton.
If she switched to offense, she would be cut to pieces instantly, but if she focused on warding off attacks, she had the defensive power of an iron wall.
Block, deflect, half a step to the side, evade. This continued, and although the amount of wounds on her body was growing, she had the power to prevent any of them from becoming a deep one.
Thirty seconds was a lot of time, and yet, Kanba pulled through, which was commendable.
“Leave it to me!”
Said Hino as he jumped in from the back to tag in.
He faced the greater skeleton with all his power.
Hino’s skill was called Power Charge, and it was activated by stopping and focusing his mind. The longer he did and the more he focused, the bigger the effect.
That meant standing still during a battle.
This skill seemed almost suicidal, but its power was great, and with the support of his partners, it could ascend into a finishing move.
◇ ◇ ◇
Hino was in and Kanba was out.
Even Kanba, who was better with a sword than Hino, could do nothing but defend, so if he recklessly approached it, he would simply be countered.
But still, he went against the monster. Not out of recklessness, but because he trusted his friends.
Two arrows flew towards the greater skeleton, and an earth spear approached it.
Momoyama, Kokonoe, and Mimori had defeated the skeletons, and looked for openings to assist.
The greater skeleton cut down the arrows and defended against the earth spear.
Even this monster with high magic defense could not completely absorb the impact after taking the attack directly, and its posture broke.
This meant it was exposed to the attack from the one right in front of it, and would be hit with his finishing move.
That was why it had to dodge the arrows and magic, because otherwise, it would be inviting Hino’s approach.
“Charge Attack!”
The finishing move was swung down at the greater skeleton’s head.
It crossed two swords that tried to block it, but that small resistance was broken, and the attack connected with its head.
White bones flew all over as its head was cracked, and its white bones fell limply to the ground.
It would be good if it was over, but the greater skeleton was still there.
What Hino defeated was a freshly summoned skeleton.
“…No way!?”
A flash slashed Hino, and the greater skeleton followed it with a thrust to take his life.
He moved his sword despite the injury, blocking an attack to his vital areas, but he was blown back and rolled on the ground.
“Touya!”
“Touya!?”
His partners tried to run to him, but the monster would not allow it.
Three more skeletons were summoned, and they once again faced the back row.
And the greater skeleton faced Kanba again.
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