We head to the dungeon the next day, and on the way there, I see a lot of restraints being sold in stalls, that Argo and the others told us about yesterday.
“By the way, how far have you gone?”
“We reached the seventh floor, and found a treasure chest. We saved up a good amount of money, so we moved to Elesya.”
“Did you get the treasure chest from a boss?”
“No, we found it when we were roaming around the dungeon. At the time, we weren’t confident we could take on the boss of that floor.”
So that’s why they stopped there.
We also heard yesterday that unlike in Majolica’s dungeon, there’s a time limit. If you fail to beat the boss before the time runs out, you’re forcibly expelled.
Also, boss rooms here have safe zones, where the bosses won’t attack. If you figure you can’t beat a boss, you can stay there until the time runs out.
But there’s no cheating allowed, because if you attack from a safety zone, its effect is removed.
Of course, the safety zone will be back the next time, but it won’t be usable during that fight.
Also, people can’t enter the boss room for ten days if they’re expelled due to a time out.
This effect stays even if they disband the party and put it back together. If one person has that penalty, the party can’t use the boss room.
This penalty affects all boss rooms too, so if time runs out on the sixth floor, the other boss rooms are also unusable. It’s pretty harsh.
“But at least they can escape with their lives.”
“True.”
Argo agrees with Rurika.
In Majolica, once you enter a boss room, you can’t leave until it’s down.
◇ ◇ ◇
“All right, let’s go.”
Argo is fired up, and we nod as we make the party application on the altar of the entrance and go in.
Zuirya’s dungeon is a labyrinth type. The stone walls faintly exude light, so visibility is good.
“The issue is that if you stay here too long, your sense of time will be thrown off. It’s fine for people operating nearby, but people who stay here have to be careful.”
The same goes for Majolica’s, but we have someone here who is great at keeping the time. Hikari’s stomach has a very precise clock.
“I’m curious about one thing. What if we hunt five monsters today and leave? Do we pick up from where we left off next time, or start from the beginning?”
“There’s a record of how many monsters you took down, so you just have to go to the altar. But if you can already go to the next floor, and hunt one there, the counter on the first floor will be reset.”
So what resets it is hunting a monster on another floor. That means just going to another floor doesn’t reset it.
Apparently this is set up like this because the further down you go, the stronger the monsters get, and the more you have to hunt. Some people can’t hit the quota in one go, or do, but then run out of consumable items or need to rest.
This is also why almost no one goes to the next floor straight after defeating a boss. We’re also told we’ll learn more about why when we go to a boss room.
Considering this, and the fact that people can exit boss rooms, this seems like a pretty kind dungeon.
Once we stop talking, I bring out Map. It looks like I can use it normally.
By using Presence Detection and Magic Energy Detection, I can see reactions on it. I see, there are a lot near the staircase. These are people, so these are monsters?
“How does it look, Sora?”
“I can see it normally, but like Argo said, there are a lot of reactions near the staircase.”
They are probably captured monsters. So where are the ones that roam freely… I see some pretty far from the entrance. And most are either alone, or in groups of two or three.
The dungeon is a labyrinth, so even if we know where they are, it will take some time to get there.
Maybe spending money isn’t a bad idea. I have Map, so I know where the monsters are, but it’s not that easy for a normal person.
They can buy maps, but that still doesn’t tell them where monsters are.
“Argo, if party members are too far apart, do they not count for the quota?”
“I’ve never really heard about that. Why do you ask?”
“Our parties count as one right now, but let’s say our parties split up. What would happen then?”
That would be more efficient.
“Sora, people don’t normally do that in dungeons. Even if they’re fighting goblin types, there’s too much risk. And there’s a set number of people that can go in a boss room.”
Which by the way, is fifteen.
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Thanks for the treat.