Chapter 35

The sixth floor was different from before; weeds grew along the corridor. It was a small change, but considering that not even a blade of grass had grown there before, it was a significant difference.

For now, Seiki could not detect any traps with his eyes. There were probably no traps set up in this area yet.

Still, he walked cautiously and activated the gate.

"Should we take a look around for a bit?"

"Yes, if anything happens, we can run away, and we can plan our strategy at the hotel."

"Right. Let's proceed carefully, then."

The sixth floor was the highest level Seiki and his team had reached. The monsters that appeared were Silver Wolves. There was no problem with defeating them.

However, being on the sixth floor for the first time made him quite nervous.

His heart rate increased, his body tingled, and he felt a heat rising within him.

Will it be okay? Will my power still work here?

But when he engaged in combat with the Silver Wolf that appeared, the tension in Seiki's body eased somewhat.

"Yeah, it's the same level as the garage dungeon."

He had wondered what he would do if this place was stronger, but there was no noticeable difference, and Seiki let out a sigh of relief.

"Should we proceed to the seventh floor?"

"......"

In response to Kuren's question, Seiki placed his hand on his chin and thought in silence.

The monsters that appeared were the same Silver Wolves he had fought in the garage dungeon. The journey should be fine, probably.

"The boss is the question. If it looks bad, we'll retreat."

"Understood."

Seiki had reviewed the information on the sixth and seventh floors on the WIKI the day before, studying the map and the strategies for fighting the boss. However, there was a big difference between looking at the information and actually walking and fighting.

As proof, during his first battle with the Gegege, Seiki was completely at a loss due to the enemy's speed and toughness. Although he had no killing power and did not end up in a life-threatening situation, the boss on the sixth and seventh floors would be different.

He couldn't afford to become a mummy himself. He needed to be fully prepared.

While mapping the floor, Seiki proceeded carefully, keeping an eye out for hidden traps.

In the dimly lit corridor, he could vaguely confirm the presence of a trap. Without the Detect 1 skill, even Seiki might have stepped on it without noticing.

"Kuren, can you see this trap?"

"Yes, I can see it, but it's a bit blurry."

"Then it should be fine."

It was reassuring that Kuren could also confirm it.

Seiki deliberately stepped on the trap as a test.

"K-Kuren! Are you okay!?"

"Yeah, no problem at all."

When he stepped on the ground, which was about one meter in diameter and discolored, the ground suddenly disappeared, and a hole appeared.

The hole was about one meter deep, and the range after falling was slightly wider than the range detected before the trap was triggered.

"......Did you fall on purpose, Kuren?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you fall on purpose?"

"Without experimenting first, we wouldn't know how the hole opens."

"But if the bottom was a bed of spikes, you could have been seriously injured, Kuren."

"Ah..."

Kuren glared at Seiki with a disapproving look. Indeed, Kuren's words were valid.

The traps on the upper floors had no killing power. Even though Seiki knew this information, his action was too reckless.

However, Seiki had his reasons.

By falling into the trap, he could learn how to deal with it more quickly if he accidentally fell. There might also be information not listed on the WIKI.

In fact, the range after falling was about 50 centimeters wider than the range before the trap was triggered. If the team was too close together, one person stepping on the trap could also affect the others.

"There are things you can't know unless you fall!"

Seiki said this with his chest puffed out. However, since he was in the hole, it looked rather pitiful no matter how much he puffed out his chest.

Kuren let out a theatrical sigh at the sight.

"You didn't have to fall yourself..."

"Th-That's right!"

"...Huh?"

Ignoring Kuren's confused expression, Seiki's eyes gleamed brightly.

When the Silver Wolves appeared, Seiki immediately turned his back to the enemy.

"Let's run!"

"Eh, eh?"

Kuren's eyes widened, not understanding Seiki's purpose. Meanwhile, Seiki was leading the monster closer.

"Run!"

"---!"

Kuren's face turned red as Seiki pulled her hand.

What's going on? He never took such bold actions before!

The hand of a man. It was completely different from hers. It was large and rough.

For the first time, Kuren was completely in a panic. Even though they were being chased by a monster, she couldn't think about the monster at all.

The escape---or rather, the retreat, ended quickly. After retreating about ten meters, Seiki suddenly let go of Kuren's hand and turned around.

"......"

Her hand felt cold. He could have held it a bit longer.

Kuren looked at him with a dissatisfied expression, but Seiki didn't notice.

He, on the other hand,

"---Let's go!"

kicked up the three Silver Wolves as if they were soccer balls.

The Silver Wolves drew a beautiful parabolic arc and fell to the ground---

"---Eh!?"

The three Silver Wolves that fell disappeared on the other side of the ground.

"......A pit trap?"

That's right. The place where the Silver Wolves fell was a pit trap.

From the pit, a high-pitched, mournful sound could be heard: "Hyain."

"......Did you step back just to target this?"

"Yeah."

Since the monsters were created from the same dungeon, they never stepped on traps. They could detect the location of the traps and avoid them even when guided.

However, it wasn't impossible for monsters to fall into traps. The fact that they avoided the traps was proof of that.

But it would be a waste of effort to force a monster into a trap. If he had the strength to push the monster, it would be faster to defeat it.

"You thought of this well..."

"Didn't Kuren say, 'You don't have to fall yourself; just get the monster to fall into the trap'?"

"Umm..."

Ignoring Kuren's confusion, Seiki puffed out his chest proudly this time.

Kuren always came up with interesting suggestions, whether it was with potatoes or this time. Seiki appreciated her bold ideas.

"I didn't mean it that way... Ah. So, did you learn anything?"

"The monsters can fall into traps too!"

"Is that information useful?"

If he wanted to drop the monsters into a pit trap, he needed to kick a monster that could be kicked and make it fall within the one-meter range of the trap.

Would such a convenient timing occur?

"......Maybe someday."

In response to Kuren's question, Seiki answered with a lack of confidence, his shoulders drooping.

After encountering the Silver Wolves ten times and defeating a total of thirty-five of them, Seiki discovered a particularly large room. It was probably the boss room.

He had not stepped on any traps during the battles so far. But with the boss, he might not have the time to check the trap locations.

He observed the room from a distance to check the trap locations.

The room, about twenty meters wide and long, had five traps. Each trap was a pit that would bury you up to your waist when stepped on.

The traps were scattered around, making it difficult for someone like Seiki, who had to dodge while attacking.

"If only we had a tank to hold the boss in place, it would be easier to defeat."

The standard strategy for the boss of this floor, the Big Wolf, was to use a tank to hold the boss in place.

The difficulty varied greatly depending on whether or not there was a tank. According to a certain adventurer's blog, a team without a tank that tried to break through was caught in a trap while dodging the Big Wolf's attacks and suffered a tragic fate.

"......What should we do?"

Unable to bear the silence, Kuren timidly asked Seiki.

"Hmm. If we dodge while fighting, we might step on a trap by accident. But if we move too cautiously, we might get hit."

Should he try to dodge more to avoid getting hit? If he increased his agility by one point, it might be possible.

Seiki's mind raced, and then,

"......Ah."

A unique idea flashed in his mind.

Let's do it! Seiki immediately put down his bag and took out a jar.

He took a deep breath, paused for a moment, and then firmly closed his eyes, resolving himself.

"Kuren, can you swear that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to do?"

"......Yes."

Kuren nodded, her throat making a sound, probably intimidated by Seiki's tension.

Seiki had been thinking about when to tell Kuren about the skill board. If he continued to hide it, his judgment in situations where he could save someone with a skill might become dull.

If that was the case, he should tell Kuren about the board now. Seiki made up his mind and took out the skill board.

"Kuren, bring out Rare from the Magic Bag."

"Yes... Wait, Rare?"

"Yeah."

While giving instructions, Seiki displayed the Rare section of the skill board.

Rare (1) Gender: Female

Skill Points: 8

Evaluation: Leaf Demon

- Vitality

Stamina 0

Natural Recovery 0

- Strength

Strength 0

- Agility

Burst 0

Dexterity 0

- Technique

Weapon Proficiency

Throwing 0

- Intuition

Detection 0

- Special

Treasure Vault 0

She still had many points to improve. What's with the Treasure Vault? It's just a pile of dirt.

Suppressing the urge to point this out, Seiki quickly allocated the 8 skill points.

Rare (1) Gender: Female

Skill Points: 8 → 0

Evaluation: Leaf Demon → Throwing Demon

- Vitality

Stamina 0

Natural Recovery 0

- Strength

Strength 0 → 2

- Agility

Burst 0 → 1

Dexterity 0 → 1

- Technique

Weapon Proficiency

Throwing 0 → 3

- Intuition

Detection 0

- Special

Treasure Vault 0 → 1

"Rare, can you replenish the ammunition from this jar?"

She twisted her body as if to say, "What's this all of a sudden?" but still extended her nozzle to suck up the potato stones from the jar.

With the 1 point allocated to the Treasure Vault, it seemed to hold more than expected. A slight surprise could be felt from Rare.

"Rare, I'll attack the boss with you on my signal, okay?"

I don't understand, but... Rare nodded.

"Alright, 3, 2, 1, Go!!"

On the signal, Seiki and Rare launched the potato stones simultaneously.

Seiki continuously replenished the stones from the jar, and Rare sucked up the stones from the Treasure Vault.

The barrage of stones hit the Big Wolf all at once.

"---Hyain!!"

The Big Wolf's legs, jaw, and body were crushed one after another.

Seiki's stones broke the boss's bones, and Rare's stones pierced deep into the boss.

It took less than ten seconds for the boss to fall silent.

The speed of the potato stones launched by Rare was significantly faster than Seiki's. Strength 2 and Throwing 3 were not for show. If he fought the current Rare, Seiki would be easily defeated.

For a zero-year-old... wow.

"Kuren."

Kuren gripped her staff with a serious expression. Seiki felt an inexplicable unease from her expression and braced himself.

When she first saw Rare, there was hatred in her eyes.

Could she be terrified by the strength of Rare's stones?

Would she be told to kill and retreat again? Cold sweat trickled down Seiki's spine.

"Why didn't you include me in the long-range attack?"

"......Oh, that's it."

"What do you mean, 'that's it'? I can use magic too! Much better than Rare!!"

It seemed she still saw Rare, who could perform long-range attacks, as a rival.

As for Rare, she was suffering from level-up dizziness after defeating a higher-level monster, and her stem was drooping. However, her leaves were still twitching, showing a rebellious spirit.

"So, Kuren, why did Rare suddenly become so strong? She didn't have any killing power until a little while ago, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm going to explain..."

Seiki told Kuren what he knew about the magic device he possessed.

Kuren probably understood how powerful this magic device was. Her initially sparkling expression gradually dimmed.

"......If this were to be known to the public, my magic would be nothing compared to the terrible things that would happen."

"Yeah. That's why I kept it a secret. I only revealed it to you, Kuren."

Kuren was a team member. Seiki considered her a team member.

He didn't want to lose her or put her in a situation where he might lose her. That's why he revealed the secret.

If they were in a crisis, he wanted to be able to strengthen his skills without hesitation.

"......I see."

Kuren muttered and smiled weakly. She tried to compose herself, but her lips betrayed her.

Hmm?

I didn't think I was telling a funny story...

"Anyway, the point is that I can enhance the potential abilities of individuals."

"Wait, do I have a skill tree too?"

"Yeah, do you want to see it?"

"Yes."

Seiki brought up the board and showed the screen to Kuren.

"Wow, there are quite a few skills."

"Is there any skill you want to improve?"

"Magic! Use all my points on magic!"

"......Ah, no, not all of them. I need to save some for emergencies---"

"Please, just do it!!"

Kuren pressed close to Seiki, making him lean back involuntarily.

Too close, too close.

It was like she was about to kiss him. But with the mask, there was no need to worry...

There was no choice.

"......Alright."

Giving in, Seiki allocated points to Kuren's magic tree.

Kuren Kuren (18) Gender: Female

Skill Points: 3 → 0

Evaluation: Spirit Person → Spirit Mage

- Vitality

Stamina 1

Natural Recovery 0

- Strength

Strength 0

- Magic

Magic 1 → 3

Magic Aptitude 1 → 2

Magic Control 2

- Agility

Burst 0

Dexterity 0

- Technique

Weapon Proficiency

Blunt 0

Light Armor 0

- Intuition

Detection 1

- Special

Luck 1

Both Rare and Kuren had quite specialized abilities. However, there shouldn't be any problems. Seiki could make up for their shortcomings. That's what a team is for.

"I'll defeat the boss on the next floor!"

"Take it easy. When you allocate points, your senses change significantly. It will take some time to get used to the increased attack power, so we'll do some monster hunting for a while."

"But---"

"No buts. I don't want to get caught in the high-powered magic of the enhanced Kuren."

If he were to take a hit from a magic with a power of 3, he wouldn't just pass out. From the level of the enhancement, he might literally be reduced to pieces.

Being hit by a fatal spell from behind was a terrifying thought.

After collecting the large fangs dropped by the Big Wolf, Seiki and the others descended to the seventh floor.

The weeds growing along the corridor on the seventh floor were taller than those on the sixth floor. On the eighth floor, they might grow as high as the waist.

If traps were hidden in the shadows of the weeds, it would be easy to step on them without noticing. They would need to be even more cautious when moving.

After activating the gate, they searched for a monster to test the power of Kuren's magic.

Three Silver Wolves were running towards them from the other side of the corridor.

"Kuren, use magic on them."

"Yes!"

Kuren raised her staff and began to channel her magic. In the meantime, Seiki drew his short sword and got into a ready stance.

He leaned forward to be ready to deal with any missed attacks.

A reaction appeared on Kuren's staff, something he had never seen before.

Kuren's magic was originally colorless and transparent, but now it was swirling like a white mist.

...Isn't this dangerous?

"---Go!"

The charge time was the same as usual, the level where she could defeat a Silver Wolf in one