Yesterday we reached the 7th ward of the 2nd floor and stayed overnight in front of the stairs leading down to the next floor.
Finally, I can make my 3rd floor debut.
I slowly go down the slope carved next to the stairs while supporting the cart.
About 200 meters down I finally became an 8th rank adventurer but I can"t be in high spirits and lose my focus as we have entered the territory of the [Vicious Wolves] who are known to swarm attack adventurers.
The 1st ward of the 3rd floor had no walls at all. It was a large open area with hills scattered around.
The ward had illumination but it was not bright like daylight. It was more like the light of a full moon.
After consulting with Kuro we decided to switch our guns to fully automatic.
Going for pinpoint accuracy on the fast-moving wolves was pointless so I decided to spray and pray.
I made a large amount of ammo so that"s fine but the problem is Kuro"s MP.
He currently has 68 MP so he can fire 32 shots which is 2 clips. From the 3rd clip, he can fire 3 more shots but on his 3rd shot, he will run out of MP.
“Kuro. Use the crossbow as well. If you run out of MP then you"re out of the fight.”
“Indeed. I"ve prepared 2 crossbows ready to use on the back of the cart.”
I didn"t need to be worried it seems.
Kuro is a dependable person who prepares properly.
Running out of MP is a serious problem for people in this world.
There"s no living person that doesn"t have MP. No, more precisely there"s no living thing that doesn"t have MP.
No matter what it is every living thing in this world has at least 1 MP.
Even the demons have MP.
No creature has been found yet that has 0 MP.
If you do run out of MP you suffer from vomiting, dizziness, headaches, joint pain and stomach ache.
Your MP recovers with time and your symptoms improve at the same time. Apparently, the pain is that bad people can"t stand up for a while.
I"ve never experienced it but Jean has. He used [Slashwave] too much and got it.
He fell down to the ground writhing in agony with tears running down his face while drooling and having a runny nose.
If you run out of MP in the labyrinth then you"d better have colleagues with you otherwise you"re dead.
Bonnie-san who was scouting ahead for the enemy returned and stopped us with a hand signal.
Kuro also seemed to smell the enemy.
Bonnie-sans hand signals inform us that the enemy is coming from the front, left and right.
This is the first lot of demons I"ve encountered that have such organised movements.
Without a doubt its the vicious wolves.
We ran to the left to break out of the impending encirclement.
Our strategy is to crush the attackers coming from the right side before they encircle us.
Me and Kuro provide long range support while Cecily-san attacks from the front and Bonnie-san flanks them.
In such a wide field my a.s.sault rifle showed its performance.
The vicious wolves were unprepared to be attacked from 200 meters away.
Shooting from the top of a hill made it amazingly easy to end their lives.
Our vanguard attacked the surprised wolves from the side and soon ended the battle.
The leader of the vicious wolves called a [Silver m.u.f.f] was leading their charge but was riddled with holes from my attack.
Silver m.u.f.fs have a high probability of dropping F rank stones.
Kuro had done something though. He emptied 2 magazines and another 2 bullets, however, he fired the 3rd shot that must not be fired.
Perhaps he was desperate?
Kuro had been paired with Cecily-san to defeat the enemies coming from the east. Due to the limited range of the handgun and crossbow the enemies had to come a lot closer.
Perhaps he had to protect Cecily-san who was in the middle of chanting?
“Kuro-kun…..”
Cecily-san reached out to Kuro who was trying to sit up by himself.
I quietly enter between Kuro and Cecily-san.
“Cecily-san, can you go over there?”
I asked in a calm voice.
“Why? Kuro-kun"s suffering so much!”
Kuro has gotten onto all fours and is desperately bearing the nausea.
“He"s a man. He doesn"t want to expose his pitiful state in front of a woman.”
Cecily-san had a look that said she wanted to say something but she didn"t. She looked sadly at Kuro and took some distance.
I rub Kuro"s back.
“Hang in there Kuro. Sadly my recovery magic can"t help with this.”
“Sor……ry. I…wanted…to…..show. I don"t….want people…….to see.”
“It"s okay so stop talking.”
Kuro gasps for breath.
“Don"t roll onto your back in case vomit gets stuck in your throat.”
Jean who had experienced this gave some advice.
After 5 minutes Kuro started to settle down. Jean was talking to him to try and distract him a bit.
“I didn"t think you who always seemed so composed would run out of MP.”
“I"m….not that…….composed….”
“Really? You always seemed it to me.”
“I was…….trying to look cool……..I failed.”
Jean seems surprised.
“Trying to look good in front of Cecily-san?”
“Yes……Cecily-san…..is amazing at magic…….I don"t want to lose…..”
“What"s with that? I thought for a moment there that you liked Cecily-san.”
Kuro"s face blushes slightly.
“To like…..I think it would be wonderful……Do I like?…….We"ve only just met…..”
“Is that so? I fell in love with Patty 5 seconds after meeting her.”
“Ossan falls in love too easily!! Well if it"s Cecily-san she will certainly accept your ogre right away so that"s good. Right?”
Kuro gets a little angry.
“That kind of…….please stop it.”
Apparently, his MP has recovered.
I sit down next to Kuro.
“I think you will notice it soon Kuro but Cecily-san likes you.”
“Yes……while talking to her I felt that might be the case.”
“It"s good that you understood that.”
“Yes…….”
“I would find it impossible to be with someone older.”
It might be so for Jean.
“Jean is the type that wants to lead. I"m not saying this just because I"m older but there are good points to having an older partner. I like both though!”
“Anything is good for ossan!”
“Recognising diversity and accepting variety is important!”
Meg arrived while we were heated up discussing various pleasures.
“Is your boy"s conversation over?”
“Aah, were done. Let"s collect the materials and take a break.”
We"ve put our points forward. Only Kuro can choose his future.
We all collected the materials from the vicious wolves together.
The meat is not edible but we collect the demon stones and their fur. The ones I killed were full of holes though.
The damage to the silver m.u.f.f leading the pack was terrible.
“The silver m.u.f.fs fur is ruined!! Ippei you idiot!!”
Meg is very angry that a material that sells for a lot is ruined.
“It"s impossible to finish one with one shot!”
I had decided that something like a poisonous gas that would kill them but leave the bodies unharmed was too dangerous.
If you make a mistake you could affect other parties or even your own. Tear gas might be a possibility though.
Should I look at making a tear gas that can be loaded into a grenade?
It would be useful for taking control of a small room like the ones we use for our breaks.
“Are you listening Ippei-san!!”
Meg"s preaching seemed to have continued.
She"s not really angry. This is just part of our communication. (1)
“Sorry Meg. I"ll make a plan to finish the next silver m.u.f.f off cleanly.”
“I hope you really do understand.”
Silver m.u.f.f coats can go for as much as 50,000 rims.
It"s understandable that she got angry.
Again, I"m really sorry Meg.
(1) I see he"s using the long term couples justification for not listening.