Three days after checking each others’ strength on the forty-sixth floor, it’s time to tackle the forty-eighth.
We saw how people fight, what weapons they use, and talked about how to explore the dungeon.
My position would best be described as a porter who uses a shield and protects the back row. Basically, I’m not getting anyone’s hopes up in terms of fighting power.
I’ve passed my Space-Time Magic and Storage Magic as a high performance magic bag, and after discussing it with Siphon, I’m keeping my Map a secret. It would be a pain if word of it got out, so we’re going to have a rotation system regarding who takes point, and when it’s one of ours, I’ll correct our course.
Having useful skills can invite trouble. It makes it easier to advance through the dungeon, but other people who think so might want me to join them, and it might make me the target of others’ jealousy.
That’s why I also need to be mindful of the skills I use while fighting. There might come a time when I have to use them, but it’s important to avoid a situation like that.
But in the end, I really don’t want anyone to die.
Trolls spawn on the forty-eighth floor. Their stout bodies make them slow, but their power is no joke.
One of Guardian Sword’s shield users blocks an attack from a troll, and gets blown away.
It just shows how good Geitz is with a shield. Rather than try to take the brunt of attacks, he escapes the impact, and uses that to break the posture of the trolls.
This means Siphon and Jin have an easy time attacking, and finish off more enemies than others more quickly.
But Sera stands out even more. Despite the thick fat on the monsters, she keeps swinging her axes and piling up the corpses.
Jake and the others look at her in awe. It probably felt normal to them on the forty-sixth floor because she was taking down monsters they were used to fighting, but they’re surprised by how easily she’s dispatching monsters giving them a hard time.
But I know that Sera isn’t working on her own. She’s able to move around freely like that because of Rurika’s support. She can also infuse her mithril sword with magic energy and slash the trolls, so she could be doing more if she really wanted, but she’s not doing that because she’s thinking about efficiency.
And she’s probably thinking about being more proactive in taking monsters down when she’s more used to them.
“I think I get how you got this far with so few members.”
Says Jake while watching them.
The most shocking part is probably Chris’ magic.
She’s not using spirit magic, but her regular magic is already powerful, so the force behind it is different from others’ even if she’s using the same spell.
This happens when we’re testing what magic works against trolls, and the six mages we have each fire magic one at a time.
We have three people who can use Holy Magic, including Mia and me. It’s surprising to me that only one member of Guardian Sword can use it, but they actually lost the other in the previous battle.
Not to mention that Holy Magic users are rare to begin with. If they’re looking for safety and stability, they can work in a church and never have to worry about not having food on their plates… Normally.
Apparently due to a blunder by the church, they sent a lot of people to the battle against the demon king’s forces, and many didn’t return. I guess the safety and stability depends on their generation.
Since many were from the Holy Kingdom, I wonder if there are going to be a lot of Holy Magic users from there who run away. Maybe a lot will reach the conclusion that they have to become stronger if they’re going to protect themselves.
Maybe new religions will be born out of the ones that leave the church.
“So Sora, about our meals… How high performance is that magic bag of yours…”
Says Ash five days into our exploration of the forty-eighth floor.
Their magic bags are good at preserving things, but they don’t keep things warm for this long.
They say that normally, at this point, they would be eating preserved food. They also cook, but it’s just simple soup.
They have magic items for cooking, but people who are strong enough to reach the lower floors tend to not be good cooks.
“I might need to practice my cooking from now on.”
Whispers Jake. I don’t know how serious he is, but a lot of people around him twitch when they hear it.
They started eyeing our food at some point, so they’ve been paying for it. I told them they didn’t have to, but we decided beforehand we would all get our own food and disposable items.
The problem is the difference in numbers.
Still, it ends up taking us twenty days to get through the forty-eighth floor, and even though I still have plenty of items and food, we decide to go back.
Jake and the others didn’t use a lot of disposable items either, but exploring the dungeon while nervous took a toll on them mentally.
I guess there’s no getting around that, since they were almost wiped out on the previous floor.
We discuss when to go back to the dungeon, and go back home.
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