Chapter 21

 Chapter 021

There were areas in the dungeon called Demonic Regions.

They were regions where monster nests or powerful Field Bosses lurked, and it was easiest to think of them as a kind of hard mode.

On the community, people had added 0.5 to them and called them things like Floor 1.5 or Floor 2.5.

“Enlil’s Pilgrimage Route refers to Demonic Regions that have been marked according to growth efficiency. It is a kind of rapid growth route.”

“By any chance, up to what floor is that effective?”

“They say that if one completes the entire route, one will be just about ready to enter the third floor.”

A growth method where one cleared the Demonic Regions one by one in order.

When I had only heard the name, I had been puzzled, but once I knew the method too, I felt a sense of déjà vu.

Because it was quite similar to the method I knew.

‘Did he perhaps read my guide?’

It was difficult to be certain.

There had been quite a few strategies that similarly went on a tour of Demonic Regions.

However, it was certain that this Possessor named Enlil had been someone who used the community.

Perhaps he might even be someone I knew.

“To descend through the dungeon, absorbing Mana Stones is essential. It is not merely for defeating bosses, but also for overcoming the side effects.”

Abnormal bodily reactions caused by the dense Mana of the dungeon.

The farther one went down, the more severe the symptoms became.

“There is only one way to overcome the side effects. It is to absorb Mana Stones and increase the amount of Mana one possesses. The principle is to match the Mana density inside the body with that of the dungeon. Lord Isran seems to be fairly all right, but Lady Persica is still lacking in this regard.”

“I am fine.”

“Are you saying that as someone who dry-heaves every three minutes? A moment ago, I believe Lord Isran was patting your back because you had even started retching.”

“.......”

Persica’s Mana Stone absorption was still slow.

That was because increasing one’s Mana through Mana Stones was something that could only be done after completing the Selection Grounds.

That was probably why Gordon had chosen this Pilgrimage Route.

The difficulty was high, but with the Mana Stones that could be obtained here, she would be able to raise herself to graduation-level specs quickly.

“On the first floor, you need only clear this Arachne’s Nest. Therefore, I hope both of you will follow without giving up.”

“Yes.”

“Where do we go?”

The first Demonic Region was a place called Arachne’s Nest.

It was deep in the eastern and western parts of the first floor, a dark place where almost no light entered and white spiderwebs filled every direction.

“......I have bad memories of these things.”

When I first entered the dungeon, the one that had nearly killed me while I was sleeping in a tree had been an Arachne.

Even thinking about it now still sent a chill down my spine.......This was a place where those things were gathered in swarms.

“We are going in there with just the three of us?”

“Two. I will not help you.”

“Hmm.......”

In truth, Arachne’s Nest was also one of the places I had marked.

Because I often used the strategy called this Pilgrimage Route or whatever myself.

However, I had wanted to come after preparing more equipment and consumables.

Since this was hard mode in name and reality, it was true that I felt a little uneasy in this bare-ground state.

‘It cannot be helped. I should avoid fighting the boss.’

The Field Boss here was quite strong, but it did not appear unless the conditions were fulfilled.

We could skip the boss and just kill the small fry.

The boss was omitted in the strategy anyway, so there was no problem.

“I know what you are worried about, but Gordon is an adventurer who operates on the sixth floor. It would be harder for something to go wrong.”

“Oh.......”

Gordon humbly lowered his head, but I began to see him a little differently.

From the sixth floor onward, it was the Deep Floors, the point where the difficulty rose sharply.

‘So he is not the captain of the knights for nothing.’

From the sixth floor on, both the monsters and the environment became incomparably more difficult than before.

Even the side effects became powerful enough to threaten one’s life.

There was a reason they were called the Deep Floors.

In any case, if he was sixth-floor level, there was no need to worry.

With someone of that level of skill, as Persica said, dying would be harder.

“Then let us try it.”

I was weak against multiple enemies, but I could not always get away with that kind of excuse.

When did the world ever work out exactly the way I wanted?

One day, I would face a crisis too, and there might come a time when I had to break through a crowd of enemies. I would not be able to make such an excuse then.

‘More than anything, what I lack most is experience.’

I overwhelmingly lacked combat experience.

Talent was, as the word implied, only potential. If it was not stimulated, it would not awaken.

Even if I knew it in my head, it was useless if I did not move my body directly.

“First, our positions─”

“Watch closely and follow. I will go first.”

“What? Wait.......”

But before I could say anything, Persica ran ahead first.

She had been like that during the Golem too, but this girl’s concept of coordinating with others was extremely faint.

I looked back at Gordon, meaning to ask if that was not dangerous, but he still merely kept his mouth shut.

‘Is he the type who watches first?’

If so, there was not much I could say.

While I was thinking that, Persica had already encountered one Arachne.

Judging by its small size and the fact that it had come out all the way to the outskirts of the nest, it was a scout.

“Haa!”

The sword strike she thrust in with force pierced the spider’s abdomen.

Then she cut off its legs with the slash that followed, and when she stabbed its head at the end, the monster died.

‘It is a little clumsy, but it is not bad.......’

For a beginner, she was decent.

Just as I was evaluating her that way internally, a voice flew into my mind.

[Your wrist strength is lacking.]

It was Voice Transmission, a skill that conveyed one’s voice through Mana.

When I looked back again, Gordon, who had been there a moment ago, had vanished before I knew it.

It seemed he intended to hide himself and watch while conveying his thoughts through Voice Transmission.

[Your technique improved by leaps and bounds at the Selection Grounds, but because your absolute strength is lacking, your sword strikes cannot dig in deeply. Do you see it? My lady’s swordsmanship is so shallow that if a skilled veterinarian came, he might be able to revive it.]

“.......”

It was an extremely direct and sharp criticism.

Even I, listening from the side, felt a cold sweat break out.

But that was only the beginning of the advice that would follow.

[You must aim for the weaknesses. What did you learn at the Selection Grounds? Since you have stabbed only innocent places, is the monster not suffering? If one reports this to the temple, you might even have to pay a fine for animal abuse.]

[Put strength into it.]

[My lady’s sword strikes are so shallow that the Arachne that just died is about to eat the Mana Stone it spat out again.]

[Hah...... This is driving me mad.]

[Please do not commit suicide just because your skill is poor. Your skill has already committed suicide in your place.]

......It was suffocating.

Every sentence was so vicious that it gave me goosebumps.

This man was usually quiet, but as soon as battle began, he changed completely.

What was even more surprising was that Persica stayed still even after hearing all that.

More precisely, she trembled, but she did not refute him.

Once I listened, everything he said was correct, after all.

‘Come to think of it, she did not resist criticism at the Selection Grounds either, did she......?’

As befitted a noble, Persica had an elitist mindset and a strong sense of pride.

Her pride must surely have pierced the sky, but strangely, she was obedient when it came to criticism about combat.

She did not rage or object, and since she even had an attitude of actively accepting it, I had thought it was surprising.......

“So she was being tormented like this on a regular basis.”

It seemed Gordon had thoroughly disciplined her.

How did she endure that?

If it had been me, I would probably have already collapsed to the ground in tears.

[What are you doing, Lord Isran? Did you come here to play?]

“......I am going.”

Seeing signs that the arrows were about to fly toward me as well, I hurriedly stepped forward.

I could see spiders beginning to gather one by one in the distance.

It was thanks to Persica having thoroughly wrecked the scouts.

‘Their patterns are.......’

I slowly drew my sword toward the one charging first.

As I aimed the slender blade, I recalled their habits.

‘First, they charge in and bite.’

The creature rushed toward me, opening its large jaws wide.

At the same time, I wrapped my sword in Mysticism as if warming it up and knocked the attack upward with precise timing.

BOOM!

A violet flash burst forth, and the creature flew backward like a piece of luggage.

It had looked like I swung lightly, but when a spider larger than me was sent flying, Persica’s eyes widened.

─Kiiiiiik!

The creature, flailing as it rose, charged in once more.

‘Next is the foreleg.’

If the biting attack failed, there was a high chance the next attack would be a thrust from its foreleg.

First hit. Pause for one beat, then the second hit. Third hit. Half-beat pause, then the fourth hit.

‘It is just as I remember.’

It seemed to be a habit of the species.

When I avoided all of them by moving half a step each time so that they only grazed past me, the creature raised its rear.

It was the web-spitting pattern.

‘Now.’

At the same time as I leaped up with all my strength, white spiderwebs poured down where I had been standing.

After dodging by a hair’s breadth, I aimed for the back of the creature, which had become stiff and defenseless.

An Arachne’s weakness was the joint where its head and abdomen divided.

I thrust my sword toward that spot with all my strength.

─Kiaaagh......!

When I stabbed the thin joint, the spider, split in two at once, writhed before dying.

Perhaps because it had high attack power but low health, I killed it in one blow.

“.......”

After I caught one, I suddenly thought of Gordon.

But unlike with Persica, he remained silent and gave me no advice at all.

‘Is this discrimination?’

He did not seem like a lenient person, but his treatment of me and Persica was completely different.

Well, it did not matter.

I was not a noble, so I had expected a certain degree of differential treatment.

“G-Get this off me!”

Meanwhile, Persica had been caught.

I saw that threads had tangled tightly around her Rapier, making her movements sluggish.

I threw my sword at the spider that was rushing toward her as though it had found an opening.

CRUNCH!

With the sword embedded in its abdomen, the creature twisted its body in pain.

When I ran over and reached out my hand, the sword immediately pulled free and entered my grasp.

I split the creature in half as it was and cut away the threads tangled around Persica.

“Uh...... You?”

“I will block them, so you aim for openings.”

As though we had stirred up a beehive, Arachnes were pouring out.

I stood in front of Persica and confronted them.

‘Shall I test it once?’

The reason Parrying was weak against multiple enemies was that continuous defense was difficult.

It required using a technique that was already difficult to time in succession, so its already high difficulty rose exponentially.

However, it was not impossible.

I had succeeded a few times in the game...... so would it be possible here too?

I decided to test it.

“Come at me.”

I took in the sight of the spiders rushing in irregularly, one by one.

I measured the timing.

I gauged the exact intervals and calculated the activation speed of Mysticism.

And then, one step.

I stepped toward them and thrust out my sword.

CLANG! CLANG-CLANG! BOOM! CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Flashes burst one after another, and the spiders were blasted away.

To anyone watching, it might have looked like I was swatting away balloons.

“I do not think I could even match them in strength.......?”

Persica let out a dazed remark.

Arachne strength was certainly powerful. Their bodies were big too, so Persica had been pushed sliding backward the moment she blocked them.

But do not just stand there and watch. Help me, damn it.

I feel like I am going to die.

“......!”

The concentration I had been barely balancing on a tightrope finally collapsed.

As the price for failing a Parrying, my side was stabbed, and blood scattered.

“Damn.......”

It hurt. It hurt so much I thought I might die.

As my flesh was torn away while I was still alive, the area stung as though it had been seared with fire.

I gritted my teeth and endured it.

Compared to my heart, which used to seize up at every little thing, this much was on a level I could endure.

[My lady, what are you doing right now?]

“Ah!”

Only after Gordon’s rebuke flew in did Persica move.

She rushed toward the creatures flailing after being hit by Parrying and stabbed their weak points, cutting off their breath.

In the meantime, I dealt with the remaining ones.

After we fought like that for quite some time, a certain degree of leeway appeared.

‘I am dying.’

My eyes felt like they were about to fall out, and my head seemed to be hissing and spewing steam.

It felt as though my brain cells had all burned away from excessive concentration.

‘Still, it does work.’

That pleased me more than the pain bothered me.

Now that I had confirmed it could be done, there was nothing to hesitate over.

We devoted ourselves to hunting until late at night.

***

Night fell.

Having cleared the entrance area of the nest, we sat in front of a campfire and laid down our exhausted bodies.

Persica had completely collapsed, and I was not quite to that extent, but I was fairly exhausted as well.

‘This is fun.’

Even so, I learned that moving my body could be this enjoyable.

So what if it was difficult?

My wildly beating heart, the sweat streaming down, everything was so strange and enjoyable.

[Are your wounds all right?]

“They are fine.”

I picked some Red Moon Grass nearby, crushed it, and bound it together with a bandage.

Red Moon Grass was a raw ingredient of Potions, so when used like this, even though it was not as effective as a Potion, it helped recovery considerably.

If I slept, it would all heal.

Since I had been unable to buy Potions due to my lack of funds, this was the best I could do.

[First of all, my lady, you were the worst. I have no words.]

When Gordon began his evaluation, Persica, who had been lying down, flinched.

[Only your technique is good. Your basics are still a mess, and I cannot even bring myself to evaluate your teamwork. You ran ahead alone, did not listen, and even looked away while your companion was fighting.]

“......I am sorry.”

Persica apologized obediently.

Seeing how she had been looking at my wound since earlier, it seemed she did feel something herself.

[The dungeon is not a game. The dungeon is a place where, if you look down on it just because it is the first floor, you can die the moment you slip.]

“.......”

[Expeditions are even more so. Ignoring one’s companions and acting on one’s own is no different from driving the entire expedition team into death. This time, it only turned out all right because Lord Isran handled it well. Normally, you would have died.]

“Yes.......”

Persica admitted her fault obediently.

I thought she would argue stubbornly and get angry, but she was certainly clear about this kind of thing.

After thoroughly tearing Persica apart, Gordon left the pale-faced girl alone and turned the arrows toward me.

[As for Lord Isran.......]

......Was it beginning?

I wished he would just ignore me until the end.

As I swallowed dryly in tension, he slowly opened his mouth.

[Is there a reason you insist on using a Starting Weapon?]

“Because it is my treasure.”

[Is that so?]

What was with this sudden question?

Thinking it might be a delayed attack, I maintained my tension, but he did not ask any further questions.

Instead, he spent a long time choosing his words before finally opening his mouth.

[Lord Isran is...... perfect.]

“Pardon?”

“What!?”

I was so flustered that I asked back.

Persica was also startled and sprang upright.

[There was nothing to criticize. The only flaw would be your weapon, but even that is too minor to call a weakness. If not for your badge, I would never have thought you were an apprentice.]

“I was injured too, though.”

[That was because my foolish lady looked away, not because of any fault of yours. One person cannot consider everything for the entire team.]

What was this?

When such extreme praise suddenly flew in, I was the one who became more flustered.

“W-What is this? Gordon, did you eat something wrong? You have never praised me like this even once!”

[That is because you are lacking, my lady.]

“I thought you simply did not praise people you were teaching!”

[I am not particularly stingy with praise. I simply give it only to those who deserve it.]

Was that not what it meant to be stingy......?

When I received such high praise, Persica became sulky.

At a glance, it was clear she felt terribly hurt, but Gordon did not care at all and continued speaking.

[Is Mysticism your main Trait, Lord Isran?]

“Yes.”

[That is remarkable. To handle such a difficult Trait...... and to use Parrying with it was admirable.]

“Is it...... that impressive?”

[Yes. Not only are people who use Mysticism themselves rare, but Parrying is so difficult that it is practically a lost technique.]

So it was a technique that had practically died out altogether.......

No wonder he was giving me such extreme praise. From Gordon’s perspective, what I was doing was almost closer to a stunt of sheer force.

[The last person to use Parrying was the one who created this Pilgrimage Route, Enlil.]

“.......”

[Good. Since the topic has come up, I will tell you the story of the Possessors until bedtime.]

The moment I had been waiting for had arrived.