Episode 29.16

They reached floor 66 that day. No other weapon besides <Curse Mark Sword> was dropped.

The day after, 16th of Month 1, they reached floor 71.

They got in three other rooms besides boss rooms.

At the end of the day, they had entered eight rooms, defeated 57 White Spectres and got 12 treasure chests.

There were four Grace Gear, <Curse Dark Sword (Zomedscylla)>, <Seclusion Sword (Kanscurrscylla)>, <Cross Pierce Spear (Niarwid)>, <Crushing Hammer (Gwadburg)>, and one Graceless long sword. From a brief test swing, the Graceless long sword seemed to have the best balance among them. Though it's still not quite up there quality wise.

<Curse Dark Sword> has the effect of blinding those it cuts.

<Seclusion Sword> makes its bearer's shape and presence become harder to detect.

<Cross Pierce Spear> reduces the effect of defensive Grace when it's used to stab them. It's not particularly effective on equipped Grace Gear.

<Crushing Hammer> is a grace that adds an explosion on every strike. It's pretty powerful offensively speaking, but the hammer itself is awfully heavy, there's probably not many who can wield it.

They've gotten quite a lot of Grace Gear so far, but Lecan personally has no desire to wield most of them. Nevertheless he'd still like to find out these weapon's traits in preparation for battles with opponents who may wield them. Hence he has no plan of selling them for the time being.

Arios has given his consent too.

Both Lecan and Arios have earned a lot at Dungeon Ninae.

He doesn't know the exact amount, but Lecan should have around ten pieces of Platinum Coins. Not to mention many items that would sell for quite a lot of money in his possession.

Hence there's no rush to sell all these dropped items. Same with Arios. But they plan to at least assess what they can get from all those items at the trading facility in order to settle the split later.

By the way, he hasn't seen any more success at <Appraisal> on gear held by magic beasts now. The one time it worked was because that magic beast was not moving. Thus it can be concluded that <Appraisal> won't work any more from here on.

As they got back to the inn after the expedition, they were dead tired.

"Arios. Tomorrow is a rest day."

"Thank you."

They have had a smooth sailing thus far, but the battle has also been growing fiercer as they further go down. Lecan believes that things won't go as they were from here on.

The following day, Lecan spent all of it sleeping.

Then on the 19th they progressed to floor 74, and 77 the day after.

They got eight treasure chests during these two days, with three Grace Gear among those.

<Super Strength Sword (Ganzonscylla)>, has <Strength Boost> Grace that raises offensive power as well as strengthens all the muscles used to swing a sword. Having this in a blade lock should afford one to blow away foes bigger than them.

Lecan got carried away and cut a White Spectre in half when it broke.

Those with a great natural strength like Lecan will see an intense recoil when they use this <Super Strength Sword> to cut down a <Black Body>. The sword couldn't withstand the sheer magnitude of that recoil.

On top of that, the load his muscles and joints suffered was very huge. Lecan is fine since he's got <Recovery>, but ordinary men would have to take a few days rest were they fought wielding this sword.

Another problem is the fact that the sword is too light. No, the sword itself is heavy in reality, but it feels very light to swing, which is toiling to the body.

(Yeah this sword gonna go straight to bargain bin if we got another.)

<Recovery Sword (Crimscylla)> was a surprising one. Getting cut by this sword doesn't wound you, it heals your wound instead.

"Why'd dungeon magic beasts carry around an item that heals their opponents?"

"That's not it. The healing effect cannot catch up if it slashes deep into your body, eventually killing them. But if you use it to lightly scratch yourself, it will heal your wounds and fatigue. It should be able to heal serious injury if you make a lot of small scratches. This sword will surely sells for a lot of money."

<Chill Sword (Raktorscylla)> is furnished with a Grace that freeze their victim, but trying it out on White Spectres, it only froze the area around where it cut, not the whole body. Lecan doesn't get what's this Grace even for, but it might prove highly effective against fire elemental magic beasts if this world even has one.

They got to floor 80 on the 20th. Meaning they've conquered 79 floors. Since the magic beasts had gotten much tougher as of late, they figured floor 80's ones would be quite a challenge and decided to rest up first before going up against them. They obtained no Grace Gear that day.

They slept in the dungeon.

It was the 21st when they woke up.

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka.com >

They had a relaxing meal and went to floor 80's boss room.

There should be nine of these magic beasts now.

Lecan fixed his breathing in front of the room and kneaded his mana.

Then he opened his right eye wide before immediately charging into the room and unleashing his magic at full power.

"<Lightning>!"

Lightning flooded everywhere, wrapping all nine magic beasts. Five <Black Body> stopped moving for a moment. However, the four <Red Body> were completely unperturbed, one of them immediately growled. Lecan quickly moved toward a space in the right interior. Arios had charged in the room as well, but the magic beasts' attentions were focused on Lecan. That full powered <Lightning> wasn't wasted in the end.

Lecan made a sudden turn.

A spear of light shot out by a <Red Body> exploded on the back of a <Black Body> standing before Lecan. However the <Black Body> raised its sword overhead without even flinching and then swung it down. Lecan dodged the attack and struck at the <Black Body>'s sword-holding wrist with his <Sword of Rusk>.

It won't cut.

Lecan was a bit shocked at this.

If that hit didn't work, that means this floor's <Black Body> possess an awfully high defensive power.

Lecan swung his sword horizontally in an effort to cut its head. However, the <Black Body> got a pointy armored rind covering the area around its neck, which repelled Lecan's sword back.

Two different <Black Body> came charging in next to the current <Black Body>'s flanks.

Lecan pulled his sword back and stabbed at the center <Black Body>. <Puncture> skill automatically activated. The two <Black Body> in the flanks hit at Lecan's sword, but the attack went through regardless. <Sword of Rusk> pierced through the <Black Body>'s throat, coming out of the back. Lecan quickly pulled his sword to the side. The <Black Body>'s head got torn and flew upward.

"<Flame Spear (Bandroux)>!"

He blew away the left <Black Body> with a <Flame Spear> unleashed from his left hand, and swung down his <Sword of Rusk> at the right <Black Body>'s crown of head. The right <Black Body> struck at Lecan's left shoulder, but Lecan paid it no heed and kept swinging <Sword of Rusk> down fiercely. The <Black Body> got its head burst open and stopped moving.

<Necklace of Intuador> reacted and blocked a magic attack. Lecan ignored the caster and went at the <Black Body> that had gotten up and charged at him.

It's fast.

Both its mobility and downward swing are like that of a top swordsman. Swung from high above, the sword's got enough momentum behind it.

Lecan timed his strike to parry away the sword's diagonally, and penetrated through his opponent's throat with a thrust.

Another <Black Body> jumped at him from behind. This one crashed with the <Black Body> that got blown away earlier, but it seems to have regained its balance.

Lecan calmly let out a thrust and cut off its head.

At that point, the fifth <Black Body> that had been paralyzed by the initial <Lightning> attempted to get up. Arios swung his sword, beheading the magic beast.

The battle ended. A battle far more intense than anything they have experienced so far.

"We luckily got one of the <Black Body> paralyzed by <Lightning> this time around, could have been a struggle otherwise."

"It appears to me <Lightning> can only stop them momentarily now that we have gotten to this floor. Although that brief moment is decisive enough."

"Couldn't even flinch those <Red Body> though."

The tactic that carried them all the way here is gradually getting ineffectual.

Still, Arios's sword techniques are for sure incredible. He lured three <Red Body> and skilfully moved into their blind spots before disposing them all, Lecan saw it all in his <3D Perceptions>. And his sword skills that severed the black body's head while completely ignoring the neck guard-like needles were terrific. His sword seemingly being quite an article also helped.

Frankly speaking, the <Black Body> around these floors are a bit too much for Lecan's swordsmanship and <Sword of Rusk> to handle.

But it's still too early to take out the <Guardian Jewel of Zana>. Floor 100 and beyond would be a pipe dream if he had to resort to the jewel on this floor. Lecan decided to rely on <Puncture> while also using this opportunity to hone the skill. But it's clear now that they can't afford to play around in combat any longer.

Perhaps it's time to find more party members.

These new members simply need to keep these White Spectres at bay for a bit.

They don't have to beat them. All they have to do is help create a situation where Lecan and Arios can have a one-on-one with those beasts, or at least a one-on-two.

Lecan began flirting with the idea of visiting the Mediation Office.

They finished their expedition on floor 82 that day and went back to the inn.

Tomorrow is a rest day.

Besides eating, Lecan spent his whole time sleeping.

(We're gonna hit a roadblock soon at this rate.)

(Nothing we can't beat with enough time for now though.)

The problem is Grace Gear.

This dungeon spawns magic beasts that carry Grace Gear.

With no way of knowing when and in which rooms will they show up.

Fortunately, Arios is capable of correctly guessing which beasts bear Grace Gear.

However, he's clueless as to what kind of Grace those are.

Lecan managed to use <Appraisal> on a magic beast in floor 62's boss room, but that was only because the opponent happened to be unmoving then, he could never replicate that thereafter. Moreover, the time it takes to cast <Appraisal> could have been used to cast <Flame Spear> instead, failing that means wasting precious time.

Fighting against Grace Gear bearers is tricky.

Parrying or blocking their attack with your weapon can be dangerous, even blocking with a shield is risky.

They might shoot out ranged attacks.

Even just one magic beast with that kind of Grace Gear being around will make the fight harder by an order of magnitude.

On top of that, there can be more than one Grace Gear-bearing magic beast in a room.

It's nothing to worry about in a one-on-one fight. He could just dodge their attacks before cutting them down.

But nine on two is tough, very much so.

And if there's ten of them, perfectly dodging everything will be infeasible.

Starting from floor 80, the <Black Body> move far swifter than before. Lecan can no longer lops their head off in one hit due to that fact. Not to mention their sturdier armor.

As for the <Red Body>, as long as one of them manages to let out a growl, the rest can shoot out magic in rapid succession.

Lecan carries <Necklace of Intuador> to block those attacks, but Arios has to rely on dodging everything. Yet that won't be easy in a confused melee. He's been managing to stave it off with his light armor for now.

A well-kneaded <Flame Spear> can kill a <Black Body>. But Lecan has found himself unable to find time to shoot out <Flame Spears> on later floors. Even though his casting time has been hugely shortened, kneading a <Flame Spear> still requires a slight delay. And the White Spectres around these floors won't afford him that time. He could have taken some distance if the rooms were a bit bigger, but not when it's that cramped, they're too closely packed with the enemy.

He could also knead a <Flame Spear> before entering a room. However, the first strike is reserved for <Lightning>, to buy them a short period of time. <Fire Arrows> can be shoot faster, but it barely deals any damage to those spectres.

Floor 100s would prove difficult with just the two of them. That's for certain.

(Fumu.)

(Guess I'll go take a peek at Mediation Office.)

[Episode 29 Challenging Dungeon Tsubolt] End/Next [Episode 30 Cooperative Diving]