44 - finishing exercise

From the next day on, Thor and his team's main attack area was the second level of the cave.

After breaking through the crowd of monsters in the east passage, they went straight to the second level, leaving the rest of the monsters behind.

From there, we spent more than an hour to destroy the swarms in the second level.

In particular, I carefully battled the hobgoblin shaman.

On the way back to the camp, the remaining hordes were destroyed in about 30 minutes.

For the remaining 20 minutes, we took turns with the miners and rested slowly to prepare for the next battle.

This process was repeated for five days.

The first thing I learned over the five days was the structure of the two layers.

The chief miner, who was in charge of organizing the miners, lent them a drawing board to hang on their shoulders, and Thor and the others made a two-layered map.

This was mainly done by Sora, who has , and is fairly accurate, although there are a few scribbles by Mu around the edges.

The two layers branched off in three directions (north, south, and southeast). The two branches except for the southeast one were further branches, but they were all dead ends.

Only the southeast one was a straight road, leading gently to the bottom of the earth.

The number of monster herds was also known.

There were always four to five, sixteen to twenty monsters in groups of four, but only in the fifth group the rear guard consisted of two hobgoblin shamans.

In all other cases, there were two fighters in the vanguard, a shooter and a shaman in the rear guard.

The shaman used , but if it hit the body directly, the skin and flesh would turn into a sludge and melt down.

The reason why only the bones are safe is probably because they do not decay easily.

Leather and wooden armor will be discolored and rot, while iron armor will be covered with rust in no time.

However, the effect lasts only two minutes, which seems long but it is short.

It was quite a difficult process, but thanks to this, on the tenth day, the mining of one layer of ore was completed, leaving only the back part of the east passage leading to the second layer.

On the eleventh day, with only five days left for Thor and his team to conquer the kobolds' cave.

"Are you sure you're okay ......?　No, of course, I trust you guys and I'm willing to help. ......"

"Yeah, I don't want any trouble with you. I'll make sure it gets stopped, don't worry.

"Mmm. All right, I'll allow it. If they can get to the second level so quickly, it would be a big help to us.

The chief miner nodded gravely at Thor's suggestion.

"Then wait for about thirty minutes before you go in.

"Yeah, just one level deeper into the corridor, okay?"

That should be enough to get a reaction. Sithan, I'm sorry, but if something happens, you'll take care of it.

"Yes, I'll take care of it!"

The leader of the four adventurers, his cheeks flushed, slapped his shield.

Touching his shoulder lightly, Thor steps into the cave.

Sola, looking nervous, and Mu, yawning prettily, disappear next.

The red-haired boy who had seen the three of them off mutters a few words.

"Are they all right?　Pops."

"Heh, are you worried?　Riccal."

"Because. That's not too much to ask.

"Really?　I think he's going to be able to do it easily.

Riccar rolled his eyes at Hinck's words as Hinck continued to groom the arrow feathers without looking up.

"You've changed, haven't you? You've changed.

"That's because we're both the same person. How can a guy who's all about "me, me, me" ever care about anyone?

"Ah, yes, I guess you're right."

"Yes, yes. Well, I like it that way.

Riccar sniffed a little happily and sat down next to the boy archer, who had returned to silence, and took out a small whetstone and began to sharpen his sword.

His companions Sisan and Alesia looked at each other and let out a small laugh.

Thirty minutes passed without Thor and the others returning, and the four men gathered in front of the cave, ready to go.

"Let's go!"

"Oh, I'm so ready for this!　They said, "Come on, do whatever you want."

"I don't think you're in."

Stop wasting your breath. You're making me feel bad."

With Sisan leading the way with torch in hand, the four men step cautiously into the area and quickly survey their surroundings.

When Sisan confirms that there is no sign of anything, he waves his torch and the miners come in.

The adventurers lead a large group of people into the passageway.

At the same time, Thor and his men, having cleared out all the hobgoblins on the first level, were waiting for them on the second level.

"It's about time. Moe, can you take a look at this?

"Tor, look!　We've packed it in this big!"

"Oh, great. By the way, Tor, I'd like to know where the monsters are."

Can't we do this later?　We're in the middle of a big party right now."

Now, please, if possible.

"Oh well, I guess I'll just have to do it. I guess that's what To-chan wants.

The child, who had emitted a small purple light, rolled his eyes at the result and jumped up to Thor.

"Oh my God, Tor. There's so many of them!"

"Okay, that worked. Well, I'm going to go work a little harder now, Sola."

Wait for me. I'll have your back, Thor, I promise.

"Yeah, I'm counting on you."

This was Thor's plan.

If he had to go around the passageways to defeat the swarms of monsters scattered on the second level, he would inevitably arrive just in time for the monsters to reemerge.

The idea was to draw them to a single location.

The method is simple: a large number of people enter the dungeon at once.

Then, if they come close to the border between the first and second layers, the monsters in the second layer, sensing their presence, will naturally gather.

Of course, it is basically forbidden for miners to engage in combat while they are working in the dungeon.

However, there may be an exception if the chief of miners thinks it is safe to do so.

In this case, the fact that the miners were not in the middle of mining, the fact that they could escape quickly from a distance, and the fact that they were accompanied by an escort who could stop them from leaving the site seemed to have contributed to the success of the project.

Above all, though, it was the past performance and credibility of Thor and his team that was the most important factor.

Even so, this plan was bold and out of the ordinary for someone who had only recently risen to the bronze class.

"Moo, which one of you first?"

"Uh, the one with the fork!"

The hordes of hobgoblins came in at different distances from their original location, and the hordes of hobgoblins came in at different times.

Thor lifted the edge of his lips in anticipation of a rare fight as he made his way to the north passage.

His heart beats a little faster, sending a rush of blood throughout his body.

This sensation was the adventure that Thor had been looking for.

Slowly catching his breath, Thor throws himself into the battle with his sword hanging as usual.

Twenty minutes later.

At the end of the passageway downhill, Riccar spots the flickering light of a magic stone lamp.

Everyone who had been waiting breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the three of them coming toward them safely.

"Ah, it looks like we're done. Oh, nothing..."

"I told you so. He's no ordinary guy."

"You really have less than an hour. And with three people? ....... I've been in this business a long time and I've never seen anything like this.

The chief miner let out a faint cry of horror at the sight of Thor, who did not appear to be bathed in a single drop of green return blood.

This continued for the next five days, and by the time the final day arrived, the chief miner's senses were completely numbed.