My ant queen honey tastes as sweet as always this morning.
I’ve been carbonating it lately. When I drink it in one go, the euphoria almost makes me ascend to heaven.
I put a bucket on my head after drinking it, but my screech hits my ears directly and I take serious eardrum damage.
I’ll go with a towel from now on.
◇ ◇ ◇
Well then, today I’m going to stay the night in the dungeon.
I have everything I need in my Storage Space and more, just in case. This isn’t a death flag, but I pray it won’t become a trouble flag.
I feel all fidgety as I head to the dungeon. I’m like a grade schooler before a field trip.
As the train shakes and turns, I hear a little kid crying, but nothing worth calling a station employee happens.
◇ ◇ ◇
The sixteenth floor.
I’m glad I found the staircase to the sixteenth floor yesterday.
I didn’t encounter many monsters, and had an easy time getting here.
There’s a new monster on the sixteenth floor, the undead type skeleton.
Skeletons are bones holding weapons, and since they rattle when they move, they’re easy to spot. The thing to watch out for is their weapons, and since their bodies are brittle, they are weak to blunt weapons.
I dodge an iron club that’s swung down, and swing my greatsword horizontally, destroying a skeleton’s midsection and scattering its bones on the ground. It rattles a little more, and stops moving.
Then I break a skeleton’s legs, and it tries to get back up, but can’t balance itself and falls. It stops moving when I crush its skull.
Most skeletons have clubs or iron clubs, but some have swords or axes. Also, nothing can be harvested from them, so we have to take their weapons and sell them.
I think if one were to make good money off them, they’d have to select which weapons were really worth taking back, and carry them on a wheelbarrow.
Maybe that could work for a party, but it’s too much stuff for a guy exploring solo. Or it would be, if I didn’t have Storage Space.
◇ ◇ ◇
I take down another skeleton, and keep going.
The encounter rate isn’t that high, so my exploration advances smoothly.
It’s a cakewalk compared to the fifteenth floor. Skeletons are stronger, but they’re easy to take down because their groups have three at most.
If I keep this up, maybe I won’t even need to camp.
It’s going so well, that I start humming.
Maybe I’ll even sing. If I sang loudly here, I bet it’d feel good.
I take a deep breath, and… I hear fighting not too far from here.
That was close. They say whatever happens away from home stays there, but I don’t think I’m shameless enough to brush it off like that.
Maybe I could actually be fine with it, but well, let’s call that a good thing.
There are five guys fighting. Four in front with swords, and one in the back shooting rocks with a sling.
They’re having a bit of trouble against three skeletons, but they win without any noticeable injuries.
The five guys pick up the weapons, put them on a wheelbarrow, and leave.
I knew it. You need a wheelbarrow to carry that stuff.
◇ ◇ ◇
I keep going, and find a spring.
There are spots on each floor of the dungeon with water, and that’s where most seekers rest.
Not that I’ve ever done that. Most of the time there’s people there, making them unapproachable for me. And since I always go home at the end of the day, I don’t really need to rest.
However, just because there’s water, it doesn’t mean this is a safe area. Monsters still roam around, and you’re not going to rest if you don’t take care of them.
Still, water is nice to have, so most seekers camp in places like these.
I’ll do the same when the time comes.
But until then, I keep exploring, and an hour after finding the spring, I find the staircase to the seventeenth floor.
I decide to come here when I wake up tomorrow, and head back to the spring.
But when I reach the room with the spring, I see five parties camping.
Since the area around the spring is taken, I go a little further away and set up camp.
Once I’ve done enough setting, I grab a bucket and pot and go get water.
I see a face I recognize along the way, but I pretend I don’t.
And then the bow user of the harem party grabs my arm.
Eh? What? Please stop that.
Why did I ignore you?
It’d be pretty lame to talk to you after telling you not to involve me again. So please don’t talk to me either.
Oh? You didn’t agree to that?
…True. Okay. Let’s talk tomorrow. I have preparations to do.
I’m glad you understand.
You look busy too, so see you tomorrow.
It’s a pain, so I try to brush her off.
It won’t be a problem, I’ll just leave early tomorrow morning.
◇ ◇ ◇
I look around while eating by my lonesome, and see everyone’s in a party of five or more. I’m the only one that’s here alone.
All the parties send out one person, because they’re going to take turns keeping watch.
Maybe I should do the same, but since I’m away from them, I won’t.
When I start getting sleepy, I go in my tent.
Just as I lay down to sleep, I hear rattling, so I go out, finish it with my greatsword, and go back to my tent.
Skeletons come visit several times throughout the night, but I drive them off until morning.
◇ ◇ ◇
Kuiiii!!
My morning tonic is sweet as always.
I wash up, have breakfast, and leave.
The other parties are still sleeping, so only the ones keeping watch see me go.
◇ ◇ ◇
The seventeenth floor.
After kicking around some skeletons, I reach the seventeenth floor.
The new monster here is the giant spider. It’s what it sounds like, a large spider, but unlike the skeletons, these ones approach people silently.
The string they shoot is tough, and can leave people helpless people if they get stuck in it. And their fangs are venomous, so if they bite you, the neurotoxin will immobilize you.
I pick up a reaction on Spatial Grasp, and skewer the giant spider behind me with magic.
I take down a skeleton, and then sense a reaction above me, so I step to the side to dodge the falling giant spider. I make use of the talons on my boots to grab it, and tear it apart.
Giant spiders are tricky.
They don’t appear in large numbers, but one can lose their life by getting caught in their silk while distracted by skeletons.
What can be harvested from a giant spider is what’s in its stomach.
I cut it open after it’s down, and retrieve the silk sac that’s worth five thousand yen at the purchasing counter.
It’s a pretty juicy monster.
I keep taking them down and collecting these as I hurry along.
Then I see the five guys I saw taking down skeletons yesterday.
Honestly, they don’t look good. It’s not their faces and bodies, it’s that I see tattoos through the gaps in their equipment.
I’m not against tattoos or anything, but they’re looking at me like I’m prey, and clearly have bad thoughts in mind.
They look like they’re from a criminal organization, or at least from a minor gang, and definitely the kind of people I don’t want to approach.
◇ ◇ ◇
Hum, what do you want with me?
Eh? Leave the greatsword?
No way.
No, I don’t want to get hurt, but I don’t want to leave it either.
My level…
Yes, I see how many you are, so what…
No, stop it.
Violence is bad.
I said I’m not giving it to you.
Eh? Enough already.
Hum, what happens if I don’t give it to you?
A rock comes flying on a collision course with my head.
I crouch to dodge, and attack with my posture still low.
I think my speed caught them off guard, and I cut the leg off a guy that can’t respond in time.
I kick him before he falls, sending him towards the guy using a sling. Another guy swings his sword at me, but I stretch my boot talons to pierce him.
Two guys take position on different sides and attack.
They coordinate nicely, attacking without a pause. I block with my shield and parry with my greatsword, and shoot earth bullets.
Both kneel while vomiting blood, and I hit them in the face, rendering them unconscious before going after the last guy, the sling guy.
He releases a rock at me, but it was never going to hit, and I kick and hit him.
So why did you attack me?
Hn? The skeletons last night?
You saw that and thought the greatsword was special?
And it’d be worth a lot if you sold it?
That’s why you attacked me?
Didn’t you do the same?
Eh? You didn’t?
Ah, you’re lying.
You looked too familiar with it. You can’t learn that on your first or second time.
I confiscate their weapons and leave.
Last time, I took their equipment and they were attacked by monsters, so this time I showed some mercy.
Surely they won’t have trouble making it back with potions and equipment.
…
On my way back from my two day exploration, I see five lumps hung by a giant spider.
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Haruto Tanaka (24)
Level: 14
Skills: Earth Magic, Trace, Healing Magic, Spatial Grasp, Toughness, Magic Energy Control, Physical Strengthening, Poison Resistance, Storage Space, See Through, Parallel Thinking
Equipment: Agility bracelet, greatsword of fortitude, divine bird boots
Status: Fat (All abilities boosted)
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Thanks for the treat.