Chapter 67

Indeed, something is still off...

After a good night's sleep and regaining his composure, Seiki was bewildered by the situation he found himself in.

An adventurer is a profession that explores dangerous dungeons and protects people from the threat of monsters without discrimination.

Seiki had aspired to this noble profession that saves people and had obtained the adventurer qualification.

At the beginning, Seiki had become stronger just as he had envisioned.

He had gained enough strength to protect people to a certain extent.

However, the direction had taken a somewhat peculiar turn.

The potato he lived with.

The Gegege that guarded his house.

Both were monsters he had tamed.

Rara... well, that was fine.

Carrying her increased his options and provided a safety margin.

Breaking through the Monster Parade several times would have been impossible without Rara's power.

But Esta was different.

No, that wasn't it.

What Seiki had wished for as a guardian for his house was a Silver Wolf.

Definitely not a Gegege.

Last night, Seiki hadn't really questioned it because his mind was tired from staying up late.

To be honest, he was acting strangely yesterday.

"Well, she's cute, so it's fine..."

Seiki left the house and greeted Esta.

Esta cheerfully lifted her foot with a "nyon!"

How cute.

Seiki's doubts were shattered by Esta's gesture.

A Silver Wolf to guard the house?

What nonsense.

The guardian of the house is definitely Gegege!

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

Kuren, who had joined him, looked at the house's exterior with a strained expression.

"What is it?"

"What happened last night?"

Her question was valid.

When she visited yesterday, there was nothing unusual, but today, a red Gegege was living on the wall.

"I tamed it."

"Huh?"

"I tamed a Gegege. Her name is Esta. She's guarding the house."

"..."

Kuren pressed her temple with a troubled look.

"Mr. Aohoshi, you do something outrageous whenever you're left alone, don't you?"

The word "do" seemed to carry the meaning of "cause."

Rude.

Seiki was just seriously adventuring.

He had continued adventuring straight and seriously.

The result was just different from what he had expected.

The other day, after harvesting rice, he had activated the 13th floor.

So he descended to the 13th floor to start exploring.

Since it was an odd-numbered floor, the monsters that appeared were the usual ones.

Seiki moved more cautiously than on even-numbered floors.

What appeared was a Chacha, just like on the 11th floor.

But unlike the one on the 11th floor, its fur had turned a deep brown.

"...A dark brown Chacha, huh."

It looked more like a grizzly bear.

Its abilities—would be revealed through attacks.

It had become stronger.

In the past, when the fur color of a Silver Wolf changed, its power gradually increased.

Compared to that rate of change, Chacha's was in a different league.

It was strong.

Its attacks were fast.

And it was tough.

Great.

Really great!

Seiki moistened his lips.

He handled his short sword with fluid movements, launching a series of attacks.

Chacha tried to overwhelm Seiki with large, powerful attacks.

If an attack hit, Seiki would be easily blown away.

The strength of the attacks could be understood from the sound of the air.

Seiki dodged and deflected the attacks more cautiously, carefully observing Chacha's movements.

"Seiki!"

At Kuren's signal, Seiki jumped to the side.

Instantly.

Flashing.

—Bang!

A lightning strike split the air.

Immediately after, a white surge of magic power followed the same trajectory.

—Boom!

The lightning strike stunned Chacha, and the impact made its eyes roll back.

—!

Seiki didn't miss this opportunity.

He immediately took a fighting stance and slashed at Chacha.

Kuren had just unleashed a series of magic attacks.

The first lightning strike stunned Chacha, allowing the second magic to hit accurately.

It was a well-thought-out attack.

Great.

Really great!

Seiki's heart warmed at the new technique Kuren had shown.

Kuren was working hard.

He couldn't fall behind.

Seiki launched a series of attacks.

Slashing, tearing, thrusting, and felling.

Despite the increased defense, Chacha couldn't withstand Seiki's combo.

After finishing the combo and sheathing his short sword, Seiki relaxed.

By then, Chacha had already breathed its last.

Taking a deep breath and looking back, Kuren's cheeks were slightly puffed out.

She seemed to have a competitive spirit against Seiki.

Or perhaps she was dissatisfied that her new technique was overlooked.

"...That series of magic attacks was impressive."

"Really? Do you really think so?"

Kuren's eyes narrowed.

She looked as if she was doubting Seiki's words, but her lips slightly relaxed.

The latter seemed to be the correct interpretation.

The timing might have been off, but it was good to praise her.

Seiki felt relieved inside.

"The Chacha on the 13th floor is much tougher than on the 11th floor."

"Right. Oh, do they come closer by the sound of footsteps here too?"

"...It's possible."

Seiki took out the remaining sound and odor suppression medicine and sprinkled it on himself and Kuren.

They moved cautiously towards the center, avoiding making any noise.

However,

"...They noticed us."

Seiki's detection picked up the presence of a monster approaching.

They entered combat again and defeated Chacha.

They were prepared to escape at any time, but no reinforcements came during the battle.

The Chacha on the 13th floor was different from the 11th floor.

They seemed to detect by sight rather than smell or sound.

Unlike the 11th floor, the monsters didn't link up one after another.

They had sprinkled the sound and odor suppression medicine as a precaution, but it seemed to be unnecessary.

While defeating Chacha, Seiki and Kuren continued to move forward.

On the 13th floor, the monsters' abilities were catching up to the foundation level Seiki had built with the Monster Parade and Lizardmen.

However, with the increased proficiency in short sword techniques, they could defeat them in a reasonable time.

Currently, it took about 20 seconds per monster.

If they only faced one at a time, there was no problem.

But what if they faced two at once...?

Maybe he should level up a bit more?

Despite Seiki's concerns, he felt a slight level-up dizziness a few times, and the gap between him and Chacha widened rapidly.

The gap widened quickly, partly due to the accelerated growth.

However, it seemed that Seiki's and Chacha's abilities were not as close as Seiki had initially expected.

Seiki hadn't used his Weakness Analysis yet.

He was cutting through with pure physical ability and short sword techniques.

His breathing didn't even get out of sync during combat.

He still had plenty of stamina.

It seemed fine to move forward without leveling up.

After about three hours of exploration, they discovered a particularly large Chacha.

It was probably the boss of this floor.

Seiki stood ready and signaled to Kuren.

—Bang!

Kuren's full-power lightning strike hit critically.

The boss, struck directly, convulsed and fell to the ground.

After 1 second, 2 seconds, the convulsing boss slowly raised its body.

Seeing this, Seiki opened his mouth cautiously.

"Kuren, you can handle it alone."

"Eh, ah, yes!"

Seeing the boss stunned, Seiki judged that Kuren could handle it alone.

If she continued to deliver moderate lightning strikes, she could secure a victory, he thought.

If the boss overcame the stun, Seiki could stop it.

Seiki's level was sufficient, so he decided to focus on Kuren's growth here.

If her lightning strikes became more powerful, she could hunt higher-level monsters safely.

In an emergency, Kuren's stun would definitely be useful.

There was no downside to raising Kuren's level.

More than 30 lightning strikes were fired at the boss.

However, Kuren's magic power ran out before the boss was defeated.

Kuren, out of magic power, bent her knees.

However, the boss was still not defeated.

Firing 30 lightning strikes and failing to defeat the boss was a clear sign of insufficient power.

This low power was fatal in the mid-level floors.

Or perhaps it was a characteristic of that type of magic...

Seiki finished off the barely alive boss and took out his skill board.

Aohoshi Seiki (27) Gender: Male

Skill Points: 7 → 9

Evaluation: Hidden Imitation Sword King

Blessing: Defeater of God <Mejed>

- Vitality

Stamina 3

Natural Recovery 2

- Strength

Strength 4

- Agility

Explosive Power 4

Dexterity 4

- Techniques

Weapon Proficiency

One-handed Sword 4

Throwing 2

Light Armor 3

Kicking 1 → 2

Stealth 3

Imitation 3

- Intuition

Detection 2 → 3

Weakness Analysis 1

- Special

Accelerated Growth MAX

Tame 1 → 2

Blessing MAX

The skill points had increased significantly.

Just seeing the number 9 made Seiki excited.

What should he allocate them to?

He could spend time just simulating.

But when it came to actually raising a skill, he couldn't make up his mind.

The allocation of skill points greatly affected survival rates in dangerous battles.

Identifying the skills needed to increase survival rates while fighting monsters of the same level was a difficult task for Seiki, who had little combat experience.

Is this really okay? He pondered and ended up doing nothing, unable to allocate the points.

Moreover, thinking that his skills might naturally increase in the future further reduced his motivation to allocate points.

(But maybe it's time to allocate some points...)

After checking his own tree, he swiped the screen.

Rara (0) Gender: Female

Skill Points: 0 → 3

Evaluation: Dual-Leaf Magic Shooter

Blessing: Guardian of Underground Treasures <Ptah>

- Vitality

Stamina 1 → 2

Natural Recovery 0

- Strength

Strength 3

- Agility

Explosive Power 1

Dexterity 2

- Techniques

Weapon Proficiency

Throwing 3

Dual Throwing 1 → 2

- Intuition

Detection 1

- Special

Treasure Vault 2 → 3

Blessing MAX

Rara's growth was steady.

Perhaps because she always used it when shooting, her Treasure Vault had grown significantly.

Seiki was curious about how large her Treasure Vault was, but there was no way to check.

Kuren Kuren (18) Gender: Female

Skill Points: 4 → 7

Evaluation: Spirit Hammerer

Blessing: Human <?????> → Peacemaker <?????>

- Vitality

Stamina 1 → 2

Natural Recovery 1

- Strength

Strength 1

- Magic

Magic 3

Magic Aptitude 2 → 3

Magic Control 3

Transformation <Lightning> 1 → 2

- Agility

Explosive Power 0 → 1

Dexterity 2

- Techniques

Weapon Proficiency

Blunt Weapon 1

Light Armor 1

- Intuition

Detection 1

- Special

Luck 1

Blessing 1 → 2

Kuren's growth was steady as well.

Thanks to the continuous use of lightning strikes, her skills had also increased.

And,

"Oh?