Chapter 9

"Huh? What's this?"

I picked up the white lump left behind after the wolf died.

"Isn't this a claw? It doesn't look worn out, so it probably wasn't used in the battle just now."

Haru peered over to check. Upon closer inspection, it did indeed look like a claw. As Haru said, there was no sign of wear from hitting the ground or my weapon, and it was a pristine white, as if it had never touched the ground.

"Does this mean the drop items are unrelated to the individual? But it's a wolf, so it must be a claw, right?"

"Probably. The idea is that when you defeat a monster, the corresponding item is left as a reward. So, it's a wolf's claw, but not one the wolf was using. Got it?"

As I was getting confused, Haru succinctly explained.

"So, we can destroy them completely when we defeat them?"

"Let's verify that. If you do, the dropped items might also be destroyed by the shock."

"Hmm, yeah, that makes sense. Alright, Haru, let's verify it."

"Sure. First, we need to find an enemy other than a wolf. So far, claws have dropped from two out of the three wolves we've defeated, which is a 66% drop rate. We need to verify more."

I picked up the hoe that had fallen and returned the scythe to Haru. The hoe felt more familiar after using it for a long time, even though the handle was a bit thick for me. The balance with the weight concentrated at the tip was just right.

As we walked, we encountered more wolves. Now that I knew about the skill, I could react without being caught off guard. Haru was taking down the wolves with the claw skill by hitting them with the pickaxe. It was clear that brute force was effective. My hoe, though the handle was metal, was hollow inside to make it lighter, so using it like that would break it.

It seemed that the wolves generally moved in groups of three. We saw three groups of three wolves, a total of four times. It was too consistent to be a coincidence, so it must be part of the dungeon's system. The drops were nine claws and five stones. Sometimes, a wolf would drop both. The stones looked like obsidian, rough and glossy black, with faint purple lines. Since obsidian is either completely black or has white parts, it was clear that these were not obsidian. The strength was similar to regular stone, and Haru easily shattered one with a serious swing of the pickaxe. The claws were very weak. They were hard, but with our improved stats, we could break them with our bare hands if we tried. They wouldn't be practical for use, even as accessories.

"Well, that's about it, I guess."

"If the first drop had been something of superhuman strength, it would have been a different story."

Haru agreed with my words. Well, it's good that we didn't get our hopes up.

"Hey, good news. A monster seems to be approaching from a distance. It's only one, so it's probably not a wolf."

"Great, finally. I was starting to think this floor only had wolves. What's it like?"

"It's walking over here by chance, so its detection ability isn't high. Also, it's quite slow, but stronger than a wolf."

"Thinking about it, we can learn a lot from this."

I nodded and focused on detecting, leaning against the wall.

"Ah, that's it. It's definitely stronger than a wolf. It walks on four legs, and its hooves look hard. It's pretty big, too."

"Then, I'll throw a bomb suddenly, and you can attack it by surprise? Ah, it's here."

"It noticed us. So, the first hit is up to you."

A powerful presence was coming at us at a considerable speed. Of course, a monster wouldn't run at full speed without seeing an enemy. Even monsters walk slowly when they're just wandering around. That made sense. As I was nodding to Haru's words, the presence behind me grew stronger. It was Haru's presence when she was focused.

Let's go.

"**Bomb**"

The bomb hit the monster's nose as I kicked off the wall and moved above it, then swung the hoe down at its neck. Or so I thought.

"Where's the neck?"

I couldn't find the exact position of the neck, so I attacked its face. The monster had a round, plump body with brown fur and fangs. It charged straight at us with unusual speed. The bomb made it squeal, but it didn't slow down and continued charging at Haru.

"Ouch!"

The monster, hit by Haru's incomprehensible battle cry and a series of pickaxe strikes, seemed to suffer a mild concussion. It didn't slow down, passed by Haru, turned, and then crashed into the wall at full speed.

"Ouch, that must hurt. It probably took more damage from that than from our attacks. This boar."

"Yeah, it was like a home run. The momentum was stronger than I thought, and my hand hurts."

So, the monster that charged at us was a boar. A round, deformed boar without a neck, like in illustrations. Imagine it standing about 1.5 meters tall and looking vicious. The boar, which had hit the wall, was now lying at our feet. It wasn't dead, but it wouldn't get up for a while. I hadn't really done anything in this fight.

"So, I'll finish it off."

"I don't understand what you mean by 'so,' but sure. There's no last attack or anything."

"Really? Then how is the experience distributed? If the occasional stat changes are due to level-ups from accumulated experience, then..."

"Based on the damage dealt. Or rather, the contribution to the battle. Considering the enemies we've hunted so far."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

Oh no, Haru is so competent that I feel like I have no value. I didn't realize levels were determined like that. Indeed, when Haru supported with magic, both of us leveled up, but when I supported, only Haru's level increased quickly. Supporting alone doesn't contribute much to the battle. So, even if I finish off the boar, I won't get much experience. Well, I'll still finish it off.

I raised the scythe and thrust it into what I thought was the neck. It met considerable resistance but was firmly embedded. After a few seconds, the boar turned into mist and disappeared. A lump of meat was left behind.

"Meat? Meat?!"

"Meat!"

As I was surprised, Haru raised both hands in joy, quickly scooped up the meat, and put it in a plastic bag in her backpack. The meat wasn't very big, about the size of a steak. But think about it. For poor siblings who rarely got to eat meat, a piece of steak would be the ultimate luxury.

"Brother."

"Alright, Haru."

"Let's hunt them all."

And so, our terrifying steak hunt began.