A high-difficulty dungeon where inexperienced individuals would quickly meet their demise.
And the moment Tatsuro and his team stepped in, they received their baptism.
Before Tatsuro could even register that they had entered the dungeon, something black lunged at them from all directions.
In response, Ai, Jeanne, and Athena quickly reacted to the movement, deflecting everything with their fists and horns before the attacks could land.
"Are these... clams?" (Ai)
"They're huge. About thirty centimeters, I'd say." (Tatsuro)
They were bivalves about the size Ai mentioned, with black tentacle-like appendages growing thicker from the base protruding from the gap in the shell, and mouths with tiny sharp teeth at the tips.
Apparently, they had been lying in wait at the point where Tatsuro and his team were teleported into the dungeon, and all sprang out of their shells as soon as they arrived.
"Ah, Tatsuro-san. The black body part is useless, but the shell can be used for various things." (Leah)
"Oh, is that so? Then let's take the shells with us." (Tatsuro)
"Leah-chan, what can these be used for?" (Ai)
"They're fire-resistant, so you can mix the powder into things to make them fire-resistant. They also have insect-repelling properties and are resistant to dirt." (Leah)
"Did you see that with your eye skill?" (Tatsuro)
"Yes. But this is a commonly used technique, so we can sell them as they are." (Leah)
"For now, let's collect the shells whenever we find them since they seem useful. ... However, this dungeon seems to be this kind of place." (Tatsuro)
After collecting the shells and the dark blue magic stones found inside the black bodies, they looked around.
They were standing on a sandy beach, and turning around, they could see a small island about fifty meters wide with sparse grass growing on it.
The island was surrounded by sea, and several other small islands could be seen floating in that sea.
"Ah, I guess we're supposed to cross those islands to find the point to the next level?" (Tatsuro)
In the direction Athena pointed, there were boats stacked high like Jenga on the sandy beach, with a plastic-like texture, large enough for four adults to ride in two rows. (T/N: Jenga is a game built on the simple premise of stacking blocks)
Immediately, they checked if the boats were usable with dispel magic, and surprisingly, it showed that none of the boats had holes or cracks that might cause damage during navigation.
"Cardina, did you find any boats that look like they might sink?" (Tatsuro)
Just to be sure, he asked Cardina as well, but she shook her head, indicating that she couldn't find any such boats.
"But you know, even if we're told all of these are usable, it feels kinda suspicious." (Tatsuro)
"In the Level 3 dungeon, there were always defective items." (Ai)
"Um, I'd like to check with my eyes too, so could you line up a few of them?" (Leah)
"Ah, indeed, your eyes might find something. Ai, Athena, please help." (Tatsuro)
"Roger that~" (Athena)
So Ai and Athena, as if playing with giant Jenga, carefully pulled out several boats without collapsing the tower and lined them up.
"It's better not to use this one and that one." (Leah)
"Can you explain why in a way we can understand?" (Tatsuro)
"Yes. To put it simply, if you put them in that sea, they'll gradually dissolve and become full of holes like a honeycomb. But in their current state, there's no problem with the boats at all." (Leah)
"At this point, they're even taking countermeasures against dispel magic. This is troublesome." (Tatsuro)
Saying that Tatsuro, as if experimenting, used water magic to draw up seawater and poured it into the boat Leah had pointed out.
After leaving it for a while, bubbles started to form in the boat filled with seawater, and eventually, holes began to appear, and water started to leak out.
"If we set out to sea in this, we'd all sink." (Tatsuro)
"Yeah, so let's have Leah-chan help us choose some that seem okay." (Leah)
"Alright, please do. I want to put some spares in the [Item Box] just in case, so choose a bit more than necessary." (Tatsuro)
As Ai took Leah to select boats, Tatsuro, along with Cardina, accurately located the clam monsters still hiding like landmines waiting for them to approach, and marked them with dark magic.
Then, returning to where Ai and Leah were, about twenty boats were lined up.
"Look, look, all of these are okay!" (Ai)
"No, we don't need that many." (Tatsuro)
Despite saying that, since the two had chosen and brought these boats, he stored them all in the [Item Box] for now.
Having thus secured transportation for the sea route just in case, Tatsuro decided to level up Leah.
He couldn't leave her at level one where she couldn't do anything, and he wanted to help her grow here at least to the point where she could do something on her own. That's why he had marked the locations earlier.
Tatsuro stood a little away from the places marked with dark magic, while Nana, with her presence diminished, floated in a state closer to the marks, holding the dragon's fang in her right hand.
As a precaution, he also had Athena positioned where she could quickly move to support Nana, and first used earth magic to create an earth doll, which he sent charging towards the clam monsters hidden in the ground.
Tatsuro planned to use this as bait, have Nana skewer the monsters when they jumped out, and then have Leah hit them with a hammer.
However, even as he moved the ground carrying the earth doll closer - one meter, thirty centimeters, ten centimeters - there was no sign of the monsters jumping out.
So he tried moving the earth doll around where the monsters were likely buried, making noise, and causing vibrations, but there was no response.
"They're not coming out. Maybe they only react to humans?" (Ai)
"Hmm, I don't think they're that sophisticated. But if it's not presence, vibration, or sound, then what's left is... heat?" (Tatsuro)
"I mean, couldn't we just ask Leah-chan and find out right away?" (Ai)
"Ah, but when she came back from boat hunting earlier, I noticed she was already getting tired. That eye skill seems to consume quite a bit of stamina, so I decided to do what I can on my own." (Tatsuro)
Tatsuro and Ai briefly glanced at Leah, who was waiting behind Nana and Athena, then quickly looked back and this time returned the earth doll to the ground, creating a low-temperature flame doll about skin temperature, and moved it closer to the monster.
Then, the bivalve buried in the ground suddenly opened wide and jumped out.
"Fiiish!" (Nana) Original content can be found at novel⁂fire.net
"Oh, Sister Nana, well done!" (Leah)
The black tentacle-like main body that had sprung out towards the mere low-temperature fire was quickly approached from the side by Nana, who stabbed it with her fang a bit below the tip, pinning it to the ground.
At that point, the shell part charged towards Nana, but Athena easily caught it by the joint of the bivalve, capturing it effortlessly.
"Now Nana, weaken it to the limit with [Dragon Drain]." (Tatsuro)
"Yes, I will." (Nana)
As Nana began [Dragon Drain], Tatsuro also activated [Level Eater] and walked closer, hitting the clam monster with a black sphere at point-blank range.
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Skills: [Heat Sensing Lv.3], [Biting Lv.5], [Tooth Micro-vibration Lv.3]
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(Ugh, [Tooth Micro-vibration]? Does this mean it vibrates those finely pointed teeth to cut off after biting? That's too grotesque... Even Jeanne's tough skin might be in trouble if bitten by this.) (Tatsuro)
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Skills: [Heat Sensing Lv.0], [Biting Lv.0], [Tooth Micro-vibration Lv.0]
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"Alright, I'm done on this end. How about you, Nana?" (Tatsuro)
"It's difficult to bring it to the brink of death without killing it.......... Phew, one more hit should do it." (Nana)
"My, my. It was thrashing around so violently, but now it's completely limp." (Athena)
With its skills stolen and strength drained, the bivalve monster could now only twitch occasionally, waiting for Leah to deliver the final blow.
Tatsuro took out a one-meter hammer from the [Item Box] and, together with Nana, used curse magic to boost Leah's strength.
Then, while still being cautious, Nana slowly pulled out the dragon's fang to prevent body fluids from splattering, and Leah was given the hammer from earlier.
Then Leah, with the added boost, raised the large hammer and swung it down with force towards the monster whose insides were still exposed.
"Ugh, my hands are numb..." (Leah)
Although the ground wasn't too hard, the impact of the full-force blow, aided by gravity, made a loud "thud" sound as it crushed the monster's mouth part and embedded it into the ground.
|Skill: Hammer Technique Lv.1 acquired.|
|You have reached "Level: 11".|
"Ah, my level went up. And I got [Hammer Technique Lv.1] too!" (Leah)
"A ten-level jump at once, that's quite a good start." (Tatsuro)
"At this rate, it looks like you could easily reach around level 30." (Ai)
"Yeah, even these small fry had (27) SP and were level 23, so if we go deeper, we might be able to level up ourselves too." (Tatsuro)
Saying that, Tatsuro collected the magic stones and shells, and then set out to lure more monsters buried elsewhere.