I’ve been walking for a while, but see no sign of reaching the mountain. Is it that far? No, it could be a drawing painted on the wall of the dungeon.
If that mountain that seems so far away is part of the dungeon, there’s way too much left to explore. I’d have more than a hard time reaching the next floor.
It has to be a drawing. Yes, no doubt about it.
I convince myself of that, and cross the forest.
They’re still a little far away, but I can see a seeker party walking.
There are eight of them, and they seem to be tired and on their way back. They also have an autonomous cart, a portacool. It’s clear they have money.
Those are pro seekers. It’s no wonder they crossed the thirtieth floor.
Much like how I noticed them, the eight person party notices me.
I raise one hand to greet them, but they look cautious. I can see them whispering to each other.
A new type of hobgoblin?
It’s fat, but it looks like one.
It could be an orc hobgoblin hybrid.
It’s wearing equipment, so is it a unique monster?
Should we run?
If we win, we’ll get new skills.
I can hear you, idiots.
I struggle to not reach for my greatsword of fortitude, as I complain.
I’m not thinking about how good it would feel to cut them down or anything.
Wait, wait. I’m human like you.
Can you stop looking at me with doubt?
Why am I here alone?
Because I don’t have a party. So what?
Wait! I’m talking, of course I’m human! Put down the weapons!
They’re cautious of me, with weapons in hand.
There’s a mage and an archer on their back row, and six front line seekers. Not quite a nice balance.
They have two heavy warriors with shields serving as tanks, and four swordsmen.
I’m honestly curious about their coordination, but if we fight here, we’ll attract monsters. And we probably wouldn’t leave uninjured.
I need to look for the armored hobgoblin, so I don’t want to lose equipment here. That’s why I’m trying so hard to convince them.
They lower their weapons, so it looks like it worked.
Good. I’m relieved that I don’t have to fight for no reason, but then Spatial Grasp picks up on something.
I take out my greatsword and cut down an arrow.
I guess they were pretending to understand me to lull me into a false sense of security.
I control magic energy and create a gust of wind with Wind Magic, but there’s something odd about them.
But that doesn’t matter, and I use magic to blow them away.
This magic doesn’t have the power to kill. It would injure a regular person, but it can only scare someone with the tough body of a seeker.
But that’s the whole idea. There’s a lot more of them, and they must be strong to be pro seekers.
I’ll knock two or three out while they’re startled. If possible, the mage and archer.
I’ve learned from fighting hobgoblins that it’s most effective to take out the firepower in the back. Mages can change a battle with one attack.
I use Physical Strengthening, quickly get behind them, and attack the mage.
I raise my fist, but then my eyes meet the eyes of the mage.
They’re wide open with surprise, like she doesn’t know what’s happening.
She’s a girl, but if I get careless, I’ll get taken out. With that in mind, I change course from her face to her stomach.
That second of hesitation was bad, as a heavy warrior gets between us with a big shield.
There’s a loud sound, and I put even more strength into my punch to blow the heavy warrior and the shield away. Both the heavy warrior and the mage fall.
I didn’t expect them to react to me so fast. They really are pro seekers.
I have to get serious too. I was trying not to kill them, but it might be hard.
I hold up the greatsword of fortitude, and get ready to use Limit Break.
This might be a fight to the death. I want to just leave them unconscious, but if it comes to that, I’ll cut an arm or a leg.
With that fighting spirit in my heart, I hear the girl I think is their leader yelling something.
Hn? What? Misunderstanding?
What misunderstanding? The time for that ended when you fired an arrow at me.
That was the misunderstanding?
In what world is attempted murder a misunderstanding? Who do you think I am?
What? Compensation?
…How much?
I lower the greatsword of fortitude and get ready to hear them out.
I didn’t expect to get some money here. You never know what the world will bring you.
I speak to their leader, and we exchange contact information so they can pay me my compensation later.
For some reason the others are keeping their distance, but let’s not worry about that.
It’s not like I’ll talk to them again after I get my money.
Ah, that’s right. I ask about the staircase to the thirty-second floor, and I’m told it’s one day away if I walk straight from here.
Eh, I see…
…Hn? One day?
I didn’t expect it to be that far.
It’s said that people walk four kilometers per hour, so forty in ten hours.
They said they camped on this floor. That means it’s even more than that.
I’ll have to walk forty kilometers from here, maybe more. And I’ll get attacked by monsters along the way.
How long will it take me to reach the next floor? I saw on the internet that fields will get wider the further I go, prompting me to ask how wide they get.
I say goodbye to the party, and wonder what to do.
I see the party leave for the surface. They’re talking about something, but they’re too far for me to hear them. But I can tell the male archer is being scolded.
He said something about his hand slipping because he’s tired, but who knows if that’s true. But I’m getting money, so I’ll leave it at that.
I see them entering the forest and think about what to do next.
I need to find the armored hobgoblin, but that won’t be easy in such a wide area. I could go back to the village where I found it, I think, but then I hear fighting from the forest.
Did they come across hobgoblins? But then I hear sounds of a horse mixed in with the rest.
Found you.
I run to the forest with a smile on my face.
The party led by that woman was a veteran pro party that had been exploring for over five years.
They had conquered the thirty-fourth floor, but due to the size of the fields and strength of the monsters on those floors, they were starting to think they would not go any further.
The whole party was beginning to consider retirement.
They were pushing thirty, and were getting offers from powerful companies and rich people in the neo utopia, so their lives would be stable after retirement.
They spent a lot on a portacool from Honto, but that was because so many seekers wanted one.
It was currently a popular item many pro seekers were having a hard time getting.
This exploration lasted thirty days, and portacool was full.
They would be happy with that even if they threw away the bulkier monster parts. That was how big their loot was on that exploration, but the length meant they were very tired on the way back.
And then they met a fat seeker.
At first they wondered why an orc was on that floor, and were cautious because he might be a unique monster. But as they talked, they realized he was human.
The leader relaxed and told the others to lower their weapons, but it seemed the archer misunderstood, because he launched an arrow.
The fat seeker cut it down with tremendous speed, sending a chill down her spine.
“Idiot! What are you doing!?”
She was scolding the archer, when a sudden gust of wind threw off her balance.
She had no idea what was happening, but when she looked where the wind was coming from, the fat seeker was no longer there.
Instead, she heard a sound behind her, and a heavy warrior and the mage were down.
The fat seeker was holding up a greatsword.
She was scared. He was clearly stronger than them.
He looked fat and had a young face, but looks were deceiving. She had experience walking the borderline between life and death, and knew he was dangerous.
“Wait! This is a misunderstanding! I apologize, so please lower your sword!”
“Making me let my guard down and firing an arrow is a misunderstanding?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You think I’ll just ignore attempted murder? Are you looking down on me?”
“I’ll compensate you for it! Can you please quell your anger?”
“Compensate… How much?”
if money could solve it, it was a small price to pay.
Everyone in the party was wary of the fat seeker, with fear on the flip side.
If they fought, someone among them would die.
Would it be all of them? Would someone run away and survive? They did not know, or want to test it.
They exchanged contact information, and said goodbye to the fat seeker.
They were taken aback when he asked about the staircase to the thirty-second floor, which meant it might be his first time on that floor.
His first time there, and he was that strong. It made sense that he was alone.
“Get it together. We were almost killed.”
Said the mage girl to the archer.
It couldn’t be helped. He misunderstood the leader’s directions and let the arrow fly.
“Sorry.”
He apologized, clearly depressed, feeling dejected on top of being tired.
“No, he had no intention to kill. He hesitated to even punch. That’s how I managed to step in.”
Said the heavy warrior guy that protected the mage.
He had a Foresight skill, and that combined with the fat seeker stopping for a moment allowed him to get there in time.
“Still, if he’s strong enough to get you off your feet, I would’ve died for sure!”
The heavy warrior was covered in tough plate armor and held a shield. He weighed twice as much as an adult man.
He was holding a shield and planted himself on the ground, but was lifted from it. If that attack hit directly, it would be fatal. Especially for a mage whose only equipment was pretty much cloth, and could not be relied on for physical defense.
“Now now, we survived, that’s what matters. And the compensation he asked for wasn’t that much.”
The fat seeker demanded a million yen, which they accepted immediately.
They thought he would go for ten times that, but he wanted what amounted to thirty percent of their gains in that exploration. They were very relieved.
But that ended when they entered the forest.
They heard the sound of hooves in front of them, and stopped because they were not used to it.
No one spoke, but they got ready for battle.
They had an idea of what that sound was. If it was just a seeker on horseback, that was fine. They just had to be on the lookout for that idiot.
But that was not it. There was a warning given to seekers on the thirty-first floor.
If you hear hooves, run.
That warning was valid for the following floors as well, but it would be incredibly unlucky to find it.
This party always thought that as well.
They had been seekers for a long time, and never faced such rumors. It was on the back of their minds, but stayed there as something unrelated to them.
But that changed.
A big horse appeared.
It had a strong body like a war horse, and was clad in armor.
And on top of this horse was a hobgoblin wearing a western armor and helmet, with a spear in hand.
It was like something out of a foreign period piece, and they gulped as they faced it.
The hobgoblin stopped the horse, lowered the visor, and held up the spear.
“!? It’s coming!”
They felt nervous as the pressure of the armored hobgoblin intensified.
They were standing still, but their breathing was ragged and they were sweating.
It started with the archer again. He launched a special magic infused arrow with extra piercing power, that would easily pierce normal armor.
It accelerated to pierce the unique monster, but it was easily swiped away by the spear. And with this serving as the signal to start, the hobgoblin kicked the horse’s stomach.
The force behind the running war horse was incredible, and the power it used to kick the ground was not normal. Still, seasoned seekers such as this party would not falter to a war horse.
“Target the horse first!”
“I know!”
The mage activated a magic circle. Her magic skill was the water element, which meant she needed a lot of skill to make it powerful.
But she was a skilled mage. Still, she needed time to prepare, which she did not have when faced with a unique monster.
That was when two heavy warriors came in. They were built like rugby players, and muscular. They had Physical Strength, Iron Wall, Toughness, and Reaction Strengthening skills, which were fitting of tanks.
One of them had the Foresight skill, which meant he could predict attacks.
These two could get the job done.
“Leave it to us!”
“We’ll hold it!”
They were tired, but fired up, and thought they could handle it with their skills.
Neighing echoed, and both were swept aside almost at the same time by an intense impact. It was caused by the horse’s charge and a blow from the spear.
“Guh!?”
“Gah!?”
Even if they were no match for the unique monster, they thought they could do something about the war horse. But they did not hold for a second.
The unique monster hit the horse, ignoring the heavy warriors on the ground. Its target was clearly the mage girl.
Four seekers rushed to stand in the way, two men with swords, a woman with a big knife, and lastly, the leader with a spear.
The hobgoblin unique monster seemed interested in something. It stabbed the two men with its spear, taking them out of the fight, the horse kicked one woman away, and the leader stood before it to stop it.
“How about you face me?”
The leader, Kanade Hacchou, looked at her downed partners, and saw they were still breathing.
This monster seemed to have no intention of killing them right away. It could be that it liked hurting people for fun, but regardless, at this rate, the result would be the same.
She wanted to complain and ask what was taking the magic so long, but she focused on the threat in front of her.
“Ahh, fufufu, ahh!!”
She fixed the rhythm of her breathing, and thrust as fast as she could after stepping forward.
This thrust executed with nerves and fear was aimed at the throat, but the hobgoblin deflected it with its spear.
“!? There’s more!!”
She was not stopping. The moment she did, she would be attacked.
She kept thrusting, cutting like a sword, and using centrifugal force to try to crush it from above.
The hobgoblin blocked it all with the spear it held in one hand.
“You!!”
Hachou yelled, feeling she was not strong enough and her spear was not reaching.
Her lack of power frustrated her, and she was not even grazing it no matter how much she thrust. She aimed at the horse, but it was also easily evaded.
The pressure coming from the hobgoblin intensified, and she felt it was a signal it was coming to attack.
At this rate, she would be done in one attack, so she pleaded as she used her trump card.
“Kuh, Gravity!”
Hachou used Gravity Magic. It was not her skill, it was an ability her spear had.
It was inscribed with the name tortoise king of gravity, and it had the ability to temporarily double the gravity on a target.
This ability cost a lot of magic energy, so she only used it when absolutely necessary. To lower an opponent’s guard, hinder their moves, or run away.
This was not an offensive ability. She knew it better than anyone.
So she yelled.
“Everyone run! Hurr-goho.”
As she yelled, she vomited blood as a spear pierced her stomach.
The hobgoblin and the horse moved as though it was nothing, despite the Gravity Magic.
She wished for everyone to run quickly.
The unique monster was too strong. They would not win.
Even if they used magic, the strongest spell would not be enough.
She understood that.
The spear was pulled from her, and she fell to her knees.
She reached with her hand, saying to wait, but could not stop the hobgoblin from going after the mage.
◇ ◇ ◇
The mage’s strongest spell was complete.
Her leader bought her the time she needed.
Two magic circles were activated, Storm and Separation.
Many drops of water appeared in the air, which turned to ice as they changed shape. They became heavier, grew in numbers, and that overwhelming mass fell upon the hobgoblin.
“Ice Waterfall Burial.”
The ice magic encircled the hobgoblin and rampaged. The many ice blades were deadly weapons as they filled the area and rejected life.
A monster hit with this would be ripped to shreds, and its remains would become an ice sculpture.
Until now.
A spear stretched from the unnatural rampage and pierced the mage.
“Eh?”
She looked at her stomach, not understanding what happened. She saw a long spear piercing it.
She fell once it was pulled out. Blood spilled from her stomach, and despite her drinking a potion, the healing felt slower than usual.
She thought she had to ready the next spell quickly as she looked at the white frozen space, and saw the hobgoblin and horse unharmed.
“Dammit!!”
The archer also saw them, and desperately readied and launched an arrow. He did it again and again, but they all fell to the spear.
They were supposed to be strengthened by magic energy, but all easily fell.
“Monstrosity!”
The archer drew a one-handed sword and stood in front of the mage.
The last fortress of the mage was a role that was usually entrusted to him. But the sword was not his weapon of choice, and he was only good enough to actually use it.
The hobgoblin seemed to pay him no heed, as it made the horse walk and kick him, rendering him unconscious.
The armored goblin unique monster looked down at the mage as if appraising her, and the mage felt fear.
Use magic.
Still, her strongest magic did nothing. What else could she do at this point, she thought.
Half of her party was unconscious, and half was waiting for potions to heal them. She tried to move, but could not.
The leader crawled towards her, but she would be killed the moment she got there.
Still, she tried.
The mage was moved by this, and controlled magic energy while rousing her broken heart.
But the hobgoblin would not ignore this. It held up the spear and swung it to finish her.
But a rock spear flew in first, and the hobgoblin reacted to block it.
The deflected rock spear hit a nearby tree and carved a lot from it, and it broke.
“Found~ you~.”
The one who threw the rock spear had an evil smile on his face, and looked at the hobgoblin with heated eyes.
It was the seeker they met before, who instilled as much fear as the hobgoblin.
And the battle between monstrosities began.
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