I tell everyone my worries about my magic energy being forcibly sapped even when I run out, and everyone agrees we shouldn’t create any more golems until we fully understand this.
“Darling, I know you went out of your way to upgrade them, but can’t you put their cores back the way they were?”
“I don’t know if it only works one way, I have to try it. Thankfully, I didn’t give them skills, so there shouldn’t be a problem for their skill cap to go back.”
“Or how about leveling up Magic Energy Super Recovery?”
“Will it really come out so conveniently… Actually, the skills I get do seem to match what I need.”
“Shouta, have you tried praying for good things to appear?”
“This is where your Luck’s really gonna shine, right?”
“Haha, First I need to level up. There aren’t any reports of rare monsters here, right?”
“Yes, none. But that’s because most adventurers pass right through the third floor.”
It’s a waste to ignore something prepared for us.
This floor being treated like it’s not here reminds me of the slimes in Unlucky Hall. Am I going to find something good here too?
“Then let’s start by hunting snakes.”
I get up and open the map.
Forty percent of the snake area is bright, and we’re at a border line. I noticed we weren’t shaking, and it turns out Enki reached its destination and stopped.
“…Ah, I had other things on my mind, so I didn’t even notice there were already treasure chests.”
“Eh? Really?”
There are two green reactions along the path we just came from. The area that’s now bright is only a portion of the third floor, but there are already two reactions.
Regular adventurers find them relatively frequently too, so this might be a fun area.
That means I have even less time to care about headaches! But… It’s unavoidable, at least today, so I’ll just try not to complain too much.
“Enki, how many snakes did you take down on the way here?”
‘Gogo? Gogo… Goh!’
Enki gathers sand in front of us, drawing the number seventy-nine.
…You’re pretty good.
“Then let’s take down twenty-one more as we head deeper. I’m counting on you, Enki.”
‘Gogoh!’
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
I use Hawk Eye on top of Enki again, and fill the map while trying as best I can to not move my point of view. And since I know I’m going to fight a rare monster, I now have my armor equipped.
Eventually, I see smoke well up under Enki, and turning into a mass.
“There’s the smoke. I’m going ahead, follow me, Enki.”
‘Goh!’
“Ah, wai Shouta!?”
I jump down from Enki, and chase the smoke even as Aki tries to call out to me. I can see on the map that the smoke is going deeper into the snake area, close to the dungeon wall.
Normal monsters tend to not like the rare monster smoke, so I don’t encounter any along the way, and reach my destination.
“Uwa, it’s so damp…”
I see a marshland that was hidden among the trees. It’s not that big, and doesn’t look deep either. No… I think it’s like a pond. But I might get stuck in the mud if I carelessly step into it.
The smoke is gathering in the center of this pond. It slowly swells, and something slips down. I look closely, and see a snake that’s bigger than the others swimming in the pond.
“Is that the rare monster…?”
I whisper, and it notices me and peeks out of the pond.
“Guh!?”
The moment our eyes meet, my body stiffens, and I can’t move my numb body. It’s not Stun, Charm, or Vertigo. It’s a new status condition!
But I’m not losing consciousness. I can’t move from the neck down, but I can use skills and magic.
“True Appraisal.”
＊＊＊＊＊
Name：Orochi
Agility：50
Intelligence： 100
Luck：None
Equipment: None
Skills: Earth-Shaking, Water Current Control Lv1
Drops: Orochi skin, Orochi reitan
Magic stone: Large
＊＊＊＊＊
“Earth-Shaking…? No, that’s not it. It must be a special innate skill it has.”
‘Shrrrr’
Orochi’s eyes are blazing. That’s most likely what caused the status condition. It starts licking itself as it slowly approaches me…
I think it’s over ten meters long, and the size of its head looks more than capable of swallowing a human whole. And I think it’s fair to say its face looks fiendish.
I assume the adventurers that went missing here were eaten by these things. It would be horrible to see it for the first time and die.
If I was alone, I’d probably have nothing else to do than blast it with magic, but while I’m at it, I want to record it and offer information, so I’ll just dodge its attacks for now.
“Adamantine Armor III.”
‘Shrh? Shaa!’
A golden film appears around me, and the Orochi yells like it’s cautious. I can’t move out of its way, but I can bear it. The others should be here soon, so I’ll just buy time.
‘Shah! Shaaaa!!’
Clink! Clink!
“No good.”
Orochi tries to bite me several times, but it’s repelled and writhes around. Still, it used a status condition right from the start. It’s crazy that it uses a trick like that even though this is just the third floor.
‘Gogo!’
I hear the footsteps that signal a large mass appearing behind me, and hear Enki’s voice. And I feel its presence approaching me.
“Circle Cure Recovery!”
Light envelops my body.
“Sorry for the delay, darling!”
“Oh. I can move.”
‘Shrr…’
Orochi turns its eyes to the people that just joined the scene.
“Don’t think about it!”
‘Sha!?’
Now that I can move, I grab Orochi by the neck and smack its back to the ground. It starts to flail and tries to wrap around me, but I have more power and stamina. I won’t let it get away.
‘Shaaaah!’
“Now that glare won’t work. You got me before you big snake, but now it’s my turn!”
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Thanks for the treat.
Whats a reitan?