Starting solid updates again, probably 1 chapter per day, more if I feel like it.Towards the 10th Floor 1
Year 7446, Month 10, Day 21
I talked about current matters while eating and drinking at Dorureon.
"This time, it was unfortunate for Kamu and Kimu, but I think they really gave it their best to the limit. Basutoral, Angela, you two might be in danger next time."
It seems they"ve had a bit of alcohol but it"s still not a time to get drunk yet.
"I"m still fine for the time being. I don"t intend to hand it over that easily."
It seems that today Basutoral gained a bit of confidence.
"It"s the same for me as well. No matter who the opponent is I won"t lose when it comes to defeating ogres."
Angela raised her spirit in good condition as well.
"I have something I need to discuss in that regard. It"s about {Magic.Items} like the sword and spear. Starting the next time I intend to ban the usage of all {Magic.Items}. Since it seems that if I leave it be it would become the standard after all."
Everyone nodded hearing this. Yeah. Since Miduchi"s scimitar and Gwine"s spear showed actual results this time I"m sure they would be the first ones targeted. There"s also Toris"s {Flame.Tongue} and depending on the case Zenom"s {Cold Axe.Of.Returning} as well, at the very least they"re known within the {Slaughterers} so I think they"re easy to target.
Since it"s not just about clearing through the exam, but after that they"ll need to fight against not only ogres without {Magical.Weapons} like that but trolls and such as well.
"What will be prohibited is poisons as well as {Magic.Items}. After that it"s fine no matter what you do."
Hearing that there were those making disappointed faces and those with relieved faces, a variety of different reactions. It can"t be helped right. It"s a slightly strange way of putting it but it"s almost like cramming at the last-minute for an exam and it"s hard to consider it as the user"s real ability. It might end up in simple fights and negotiations with the owners(borrowers) over the order they can borrow them. It"s not good manners, yeah.
After everyone seems to understand on to the next topic.
"Tomorrow morning we"re having comprehensive training. There"s no training in the morning the day after tomorrow or the day after that but the day after tomorrow there"s individual training for each of the teams as well."
Everyone stopped talking while listening to what I say.
"On the next day after that. I mentioned it before but when we {Slaughterers} enter the dungeon starting the 25th we"ll be aiming for the 10th floor. This time just like when we cleared the 8th floor we won"t be dispatching anyone from the {Slaughterers}. It"s a bit of trouble for everyone for another week but I hope you won"t overdo things during that time. Kamu you lead the {Butchers} and Ginger you lead the {Exterminators}."
It"s a reconfirmation just in case. It took the shape of me designating the leaders but even if I just leave them to pick I"m sure it would have ended up like this, so it should be fine.
"We"ll arrive at the teleport crystal of the 8th floor on the 27th. On the 28th, the next day when we teleport into the 9th floor we"ll choose our destination to some extent. If we can teleport into a place that leads to that central plaza like area before the afternoon then we"ll aim to clear through just like that."
Hmm. I had already predicted it but not a single person seems to be worried.
"If we can smoothly clear it then after that we"ll keep an eye on things. If there aren"t any problems in particular then we"ll return to the teleport crystal on the 8th floor again and then bring Giberuti along to the teleport crystal on the 9th floor. We"ll take a look into the 10th floor after that."
Since there weren"t any questions in particular everyone started enjoying the food and alcohol again.
...........................
Year 7446, Month 10, Day 28
We repeated teleporting into the 9th floor around 20 times. Our map of the 9th floor is at about a 50% completion rate after all. I"m sure it"s good luck that we can teleport into a decent location within 20 times. There"s a period of several tens of seconds where the teleport crystal can"t be used immediately after and there"s the trouble of having to confirm the location we teleported into as well(Though the trouble of that is quite a bit lighter for us since we have Gwine). Though it"s just 20 times you could say it"s a painful loss of over one hour in time.
After that it took us around five hours to arrive at the location of what we believe to be the center of the floor. We had to pa.s.s through five monster rooms in order to get up to here. Of those, one of them was an altar room but it was empty.
The current time is just about noon.
"Since it"s a good time, shall we have some lunch?"
There was also the opinion that either way we"ll be returning to the 8th floor after we clear it so the lunch Giberuti makes is better. However, with the time it takes teleporting, moving, and gathering magic stones it"s easy to imagine it would be long past lunch so in the end we decided to bring along bentos.
In an appropriate area just before entering the plaza we took a break while also having our sobagaki bento for lunch. There"s a variety of ways to eat sobagaki. The standard way is to pour olive oil over before eating it. Also, mixing some minced chicken coated with salt and spices into it and deliciously eating them together. It"s also good to throw some thin slices of ham on top of it as well.
This time it was a bit expensive but we a version of warm sobagaki with spices as well as things like wild lemon juice squeezed over top. It"s quite refreshing like this and delicious as well.
We had some rest for a period of time and everyone finished up going to the bathroom.
"Alright. Let"s go."
Everyone stood up and started checking their equipment and whether or not they"ve forgotten anything.
........................
It was a dreary location like the center of the 8th floor with just rough rocks laying around here and there. Everyone is about to start advancing in the {Wedge.Two} formation with Miduchi at the lead using {Party-ization}.
We aren"t going to make the same mistake again this time.
We"ll beat down the gatekeeper-like Mino together with everyone. All 10 of us. There"s Bel and Miduchi who use the bow. Other than me, there"s Toris and Zulu who are using the shield, and the reliable Zenom as well. Ralpha and Angela should do some good work too. And then, Gwine and Basutoral can dish out some big damage.
Even if it"s a Minotaur that swings around a giant weapon, there"s no way it can win against this lineup right.
Mm.
The sensation of Miduchi"s {Party-ization} disappeared.
Here we decided to have one more meeting for the sake of reconfirming things.
After all, let alone {Identify} not even magic can be used.
"It"s just as expected. I said it before but the floors of this dungeon are protected by a Minotaur. I think without a doubt there will be one here as well. There"s no difference from the information I heard from the King and the 8th floor after all."
"But, the first guardian has amazing equipment right?"
Gwine said a bit anxiously.
"Yeah, that seems to be the case. But if there"s only one Minotaur then I"m sure we can deal with it in any way we want."
There"s no guarantee that there will be just one but I don"t want to lower everyone"s morale here. I said it lightly on purpose.
"Listen well. Probably but the moment we enter the sight of the opponent the surroundings should get bright all at once. If it"s possible then keep one eye closed. We"ll go with {Wedge.One} from here. We"ll use three meter intervals."
I said that before pa.s.sing by Miduchi and taking the lead.
"We"ll be advancing slowly but the moment things get bright a.s.sume that it"s the start of combat. It"s fine to think that we"ve been discovered at that point so you can switch to free usage of your weapons. However, don"t forget the possibility that there could be multiple opponents. Though it"s probably just one."
Though I don"t want to lower the morale, just in case I need to give a warning. So if the worst case scenario happens no one goes into a panic.
"In the case that there"s multiple opponents, "in the case you discover new enemies, shout out and warn everyone of the location"."
Ralpha said what I was going to say before I could.
Can this girl not keep her mouth shut?
Though it can"t be helped since I"ve repeatedly said this over to the point of wondering how many times it been but even then.
Even in the practice maneuvers in the past it was these sorts of fellows that were the first to be judged as killed in action.
Well, there"s not much use in saying anything at this point.
"It"s fine as long as you understand. Everyone, don"t get careless in keeping watch in the direction you"re in charge of."
After that one more thing.
It"s something we definitely need to confirm.
Though I"ve already predicted it, just in the case.
"Toris"
"Yes."
Toris moved a bit of distance from everyone towards a large rock.
Everyone"s watching him.
"{Status Open}..Alright. Emeron"
Oooh..
Just fitting for the name {Flame.Tongue}, the blade was surrounded by flames.
Everyone smiled seeing it.
Toris quickly returned the sword to it"s scabbard.
Well, I don"t mind even if we"re noticed because of this.
Either way things will get brighter.
...
.......
Things aren"t getting brighter.
Hm~m.
"Miduchi, Bel. Just as originally planned I"ll decide whether or not to use them but..in the case there"s only one Minotaur, use it immediately if it"s far too strong. If there"s multiple opponents or the opponent isn"t a Minotaur, then make sure you properly select your targets. You brought three of them this time right? Miduchi use one and Bel use the remaining two."
"Yeah."
"I understand."
Alright, let"s go.
..............................
We start advancing towards the teleport crystal of the 9th floor.
Just around the time we could vaguely see the outline of the central pillar, the 30 meter high ceiling suddenly lit up and that usual banging sound as if the air was being torn apart spread through the plaza.
Ahead of our sight under the sun-like light from the ceiling, there was a Minotaur just like we had expected as well.
The number of them far exceeded my expectations at 9.
I thought at most there would be 3~4 of them.
No, it"s not like I had any basis for it.
Those 9 Minotaur all yelled in unison with a "Vumooo~!!!" as if they were showing their anger or hated towards us intruders before charging forward.
There"s 1 with a slightly larger body that"s close to 2.5 meters tall wielding a halberd.
There"s 1 similar to the one we often sneak attack from behind on the 8th floor that"s over 2 meters tall wielding a battle axe.
There"s 1 that"s just barely over 2 meters wielding a bardiche.
The other 6 of them are all just around 2 meters but they"re all brawny and muscular showing their splendid physique.
Each of them are wielding a trident, cross-spear, voulge, glaive, partisan, and hand axe.
"Uge!! There"s a lot of them!"
"Ralpha, don"t break the formation! We"ll receive them using {Echelon.One}! Everyone can freely use their weapons, {weapons.all.free}.!! Miduchi, Bel, start with the huge ones!!"
The moment I gave out those orders, first off two arrows went flying towards the Minotaur that were charging over here, and then soon after one more arrow went flying.
The arrows splendidly rendered the 3 largest ones powerless.
With the effect from the arrow attacks the 3 large ones started yelling, "Bega!!!", "Gudai!!", "G.o.doyadwo!!!" as they turned into nothing more than large targets swinging their weapons causing unrest among the other Minotaur.
"They"re coming!!"
Right now is the chance while the opponent has faltered as their formation fell apart in the middle of their charge.
With me in the center, Zenom on my left, Toris on his left, Angela on the farthest left, Ralpha on my right, and Zulu to her right, then right behind us Gwine and Basutoral are ready with their spears.
Miduchi and Bel are a bit further behind that firing off arrows at point blank distance.
Since we have to take on the Minotaur that use long range weapons, matching up with the opponents we have close to a 5 meter interval between each of us as well.
Luckily the Minotaur that was holding the hand axe which seemed to be the easiest target came charging towards the center swinging it around.
Time to kill.
I"ll quickly finish up this weak looking one to reduce the numbers.
"Gwine you back up Angela, Basutoral you back up Zulu!! Start finishing them off from the outer edges!"
I had everyone fortify their defenses and sent Zulu and Angela to back up to comparatively fragile edges.
With the 3 that were blinded and turned into nothing more than electric fans to the side, the number that our vanguard is facing off against is 6.
If I can quickly finish off the one in front of me and become free then we"ll soon gain the advantage.
However, the Minotaur that was wielding the hand axe was unexpectedly skilled and let alone finishing it off, I ended up having to pour all of my nerves into just being able to evade, block, and parry it"s attacks.
I think it"s an opponent that would have been dangerous for anyone else to take on besides me.
There"s a major problem in this one"s skills being unexpectedly high but even then I think we were lucky that I was the one who ended up dealing with it.
Probably, it"s skills are above mine.
This sort of opponent, it"s the first time.
Since I"m using my specialty bayonet I"m barely managing to hold out but let alone my skill with close combat techniques, it"s probably even better than that Baron Logan from the first knight group.
Since I can"t focus on anything but fighting, I"ve already lost my sense of time.
But, even then I"ve already been fighting at my full for over 5 minutes.
I"m making use my of speed and moving around to evade the attacks but I"ll probably only last another few minutes.
I have confidence in my stamina but eventually I"ll definitely run out of breath.
In comparison the Minotaur doesn"t seem tired at all.
Rather it even feels like the speed and power of it"s swings with the axe are gradually increasing.
Then, by the time I noticed the number of Minotaur had been reduced by 4.
And, I really don"t have the leeway to be paying attention to my surroundings though.
"Zenom-san, Ral, Toris, start by finishing off the large ones in the back!! Zulu and Saji back up Maruso, the others back up Al!!"
Miduchi rapidly gave out orders.
It"s d.a.m.ned pathetic but this is my level of skill, there"s no helping it.
Hurry up and save me!