Chapter 23

[A lesser echidna, bingo . ] (Varius)

I muttered as the Ruyi Staff took down the monster who appeared just as we had reached the 26th floor .

There’s a reason why I thought so .

Meeting lesser echidnas on this floor means that we can encounter some strong monsters without needing to go down too many floors .

That’s because dungeons are configured with the rules that the “monsters’ strength on each floor difficulty scales linearly with depth” in place .

With that in mind, having lesser echidnas appearing in floors in the twenties means this place is of the highest class .

What I’m trying to say is “for this dungeon, every floor down is a comparatively large increase in monster strength” .

For this dungeon, most probably…once we get down to around the 40th floors, we should be able to find some worthwhile monsters .

As I was being excited about that fact…I urged Caucasus and Beelzebub .

[Caucasus, Beelzebub, could the both of you go ahead first? There’s something I want to do on this floor . ] (Varius)

The both of them won’t consider the likes of fighting lesser echidna much fun after all .

They should enjoy their battles as they progress deeper into the dungeon .

This way, my divine power would be trained at a faster rate as well .

[Understood . I shall make my way down first . ] (Caucasus)

[We’ll be making mincemeat of the enemies~] (Beelzebub)

The two of them went ahead after giving their replies .

On the other hand, I…I have a little something I want to try out while the enemies are still not that strong .

Divine power practice .

Excluding my communication with Artemis, I somehow have not tried using the divine power yet .

Before the sword is completed, I would like to get used to the divine power’s various abilities .

Although my divine power reserves have increased through Caucasus’ and Beelzebub’s cooperation, it falls upon me to train my skills in using the divine power itself .

There’s another reason why I had Caucasus and Beelzebub to go ahead .

If I don’t get used to the divine powers now, it’ll be tough for me to try out various attack methods later in the deeper parts of the dungeon .

Anyway, it’ll only take a moment to regroup with the others using telepathy and the Tamer’s magic [Shared Senses] .

I’ll have the two plough through the dungeon without minding me .

I took out a single Luna Metal ore using my storage magic as I found the 2nd lesser echidna since entering the 26th floor .

After all, the very first step would be to get used to the feeling of “chanelling divine powers into the Luna Metal” .

First, I’ll start by defeating lesser echidnas by throwing Luna Metal ores filled with divine power .

I’ve grasped the feeling of channelling divine powers into the Luna Metal in just a moment .

I gathered divine power into my left hand which was holding the Luna Metal, causing the Luna Metal to shine .

That probably means I succeeded .

Having confirmed that the ore has been filled with divine power, I threw it with all my might .

…However, I didn’t use magic to enhance my arm strength .

[Bigyaaaa!]

The lesser echidna shrieked when the luna metal hit it .

It seems to have dealt some damage but…looks like it didn’t manage to kill it in one shot .

Having understood that, I thought of conducting a certain experiment .

A controlled experiment to measure the strength of the divine power .

First, I’ll throw the luna metal enhanced with divine power while also using body strengthening magic and determine the minimum level of strengthening required to kill the lesser echidna instantly .

Next, I’ll measure the minimum body strengthening required to kill the lesser echidna without using divine power .

I’ll be able to then determine the strength of the divine power by taking the difference in magical power spent .

I went around the labyrinth killing lesser echidnas .

As a result…I concluded that using divine powers reduces the body strengthening required by about 20% .

As Caucasus and Beelzebub are working hard, my divine powers are continuously being trained, so there would be some errors…but it still served as a pretty decent reference .

With this, I’ll be able to measure how much stronger I would be on the way back after the training by repeating the experiment .

Having finished what I wanted to do on the 26th floor, I thought of heading towards the deeper floors but…I thought of something to do while I am here — contacting Artemis .

[Artemis, if I am to teleport[1] along with Caucasus and Beelzebub…how many meters do you think is my limit?]

[Let me see, I cannot say for sure since I am not sure how much Varius has grown…it has not been long since I imparted the divine powers after all . If Varius has been training hard since then…about 4 meters I reckon?] (Artemis)

[Is that so, thank you . ] (Varius)

Healing her reply, I unknowingly let out a smile .

The thickness of the labyrinth’s floors, although it differs from floor to floor, is around 2 . 5-3 meters .

If I repeatedly teleport, I would descend much faster than if I run around the various floors .

Notes:

[1]: 空間転移 or spatial transfer, I translated it as teleport for now .