226-202 Meat Area

"Phew. ....... Everyone, are you alright?

Natsuki let out a small breath after carefully making sure that none of the three animals moved.

No problem. I was a little surprised when they cut off my magic, though.

Yeah. I agree.

I was a little shocked that it was probably my Fire Arrow that got cut off.

To be frank, I've never had an enemy that could deal with the Fire Arrow that I used for speed.

In the past, he had been able to duck and miss his target, but he had never been able to hit it. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but I think it's a good idea.

I'm sure you'll agree.　I almost did a double-take for a second.

Toya, did you even have time to look?

Out of the corner of my eye, yeah. That's what I call a general.

The goblin captain that Toya defeated was a little further forward, so it was not impossible to see him. ...... Well, it's good to have a wide field of vision and a lot of room.

It's a good thing you have a wide field of vision and plenty of room. I'm not sure if it's better to use two of them, even if it costs more magic.

The other thing to do is to increase the speed or consider the line of fire. Instead of shooting straight ahead.

If you use two at the same time, you're less likely to be cut down, but you're also more likely to be avoided, so ...... training is required.

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However...

It was easier to kill than I thought, wasn't it?　For a general?

Well, they're not generals or captains, they're goblins.

A goblin's magic stone is 250 rares, an orc is 3,000 rares. That's a lot of difference, isn't it?

"As a rule of thumb, even if you say it's equivalent to thousands of goblins, you're only saying that you sometimes lead that many. That's what it's like when you're alone.

I see.

The reason the higher species is a threat is because when you encounter them, you encounter a lot of cronies at the same time.

It's true that even if they are goblins, it's pretty hard to be attacked by them in tandem.

A goblin king would have 10,000 goblins?　I'm sure it's scary when you mix that with variations like generals and entanglements like archers.

It's true that numbers are power.

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However, with the Fireball, even with some enhancement, it would probably only be able to blow up about ten of them. If it could be enhanced further, it would probably be able to use the Explosion.

However, considering the expected amount of magic power required, it will only be able to deal with a thousand of them at best.

A level 9 Rain of Fire or a level 10 Firestorm might be able to take on an army, but I'd rather not find myself in a situation where I need that kind of magic.

I don't want to be in a situation where I need that kind of magic. If you can cut off the fire arrow, it might be a little hard to fight with a sword.

You can do it too, right?　The sword is made of steel.

I think I can, but I don't have the experience. We haven't fought many enemies with swords, have we?　Except for each other.

Well, maybe skeletons.

Aside from training with our friends, we've only fought skeletons, ...... and bandits. They were small fry.

If that's what you think, why don't you try fighting them next time you're here?　No magic.

That might be a good idea. Maybe we can train. It might improve your skills.

Yeah, it's a good idea.

As long as you can kill them with magic, you can ensure a certain level of safety, and they might be good training partners.

Well, that's a story for when the boss comes back.

We threw the corpse into the magic bag and picked up the two rusty swords and the goblin general's sword.

This sword is ...... garbage. Garbage iron. This one is ...... "Goblin General's Sword". It can cut magic, so is it worth it?

"Attribute steel - our swords can do that, right?　If it's made of white iron, does that mean it's more expensive than a sword made of white iron?

Whoa!　That's a little bonus?　That's great.

It's not a very good name, though.

Yeah, it's a little awkward. Do you want it, Toya?

Why not?　There's no need to use it at all!

It looks like a normal sword ......, but it's a bit shabby, and it's not as good as the sword we made.

It will be sold to the guild as usual.

Toya took the sword from Haruka and threw it into his magic bag, and then threw the rusty sword into his magic bag as well.

That's it. Let's move on. The door has appeared.

Just as Toya had said, a few moments after we had killed the goblins, a door appeared in the back of the room, just as it had when we had killed the Tyrant Pickau.

I opened the door and found myself in the same room as before, with a staircase leading to the next level, a magic circle, and a treasure chest.

"First kill bonus again?

I'm not sure if it's a bonus or not. Natsuki, please.

Yes, sir.

As usual, Natsuki examines the trap and opens the lid.

We peeked in, and Yuki stuck her hand in and picked it up.

"As usual, the treasure chest is unnecessarily large. Is it a crystal ball?　It's cloudy.

A milky white pearl the size of a palm - about the size of a dumpling on a spit.

Maybe it's jewelry, maybe it's an item with some kind of effect.

"Toya, can you tell?

I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure it's something.

"Ah, it's a 'jewel'. I don't know the details. Sorry.

To Diora again. It's going to take the same amount of time this time, isn't it?

There's a chance it won't, but in that case, it won't be worth much.

It's a good idea to have a good appraiser to help you with the process.

The best thing would be to have a good appraiser stationed at Laffan, but that's not going to happen. But it's unlikely.

Incidentally, the [Help] function, which has been getting less and less use lately, still shows "Pearl".

It's not common knowledge, so I guess it can't be helped, but it's a little sad because it consumed a lot of points.

--No, it was very useful when I made my character, and it helped me when I first came here, so I guess it was well worth the points.

Thanks to my visit to the temple of Advaustris, I can use it to identify the names of demons.

In addition, if you look at the pendant that Natsuki is currently wearing, you can see the information that Diora told her, so it's useful as a reminder, and it's not worthless outside of demons.

I'll hold off for now. I'm not sure if this magic circle is going to go straight to the exit?

I'd say so, given the trend. ....... I'd like to leave a transfer point here for now.

Even if the way back is good, the way there is troublesome.

For this reason, transfer magic and transfer points are essential.

According to Yuki's map, this location is close to the second level, just below the magic circle.

So, considering the straight line distance, it shouldn't be too difficult to transfer from there to here.

--If you can set up a transfer point.

Incidentally, it seems to be quite difficult to move from inside a dungeon to outside a dungeon, and vice versa.

According to the book, a dungeon is a kind of separate world, and does not actually exist under the ground.

Since only the entrance is "connected to the original world," we can check the transition point we placed at the entrance from inside the dungeon, but we can't look for the transition point directly above it on the second level, for example.

This is because there is no "ground directly above".

That is what another world is all about.

Hmmm, should we try under the stone?

"Well, yes. I guess I'll just have to give it a shot. If I fail, I'll lose my transfer point.

It's not cheap, but it's a necessary expense, that's all. You can make it for the cost of materials.

Well, if there are more dungeons of this type, it will be impossible to fill them.

The only options are to leave it on the pavement to be lost or damaged, or to embed it under the stone to avoid the possibility of being captured by the dungeon.

Incidentally, I heard that the adventurer's guilds maintain the transfer devices in dungeons by constantly posting guards and constructing sturdy buildings.

Considering the costs involved, it is understandable that they cannot be installed so easily.

Let's try to remove the stone pavement. Toya, please.

Yeah, I'll do it.

The heavy lifting is Toya's job.

I'm sorry, but it's inevitable, considering the huge difference in strength between us.

Toya pulls out a pickaxe from his magic bag, inserts it into the gap between the stones, which are about 30 centimeters on each side, and jiggles it around. When the stone rises a little, I shove the shovel into the gap.

I moved the pickaxe further, shifting the stone little by little. .......

"Here we go!

The cobblestone was about 20 centimeters thick when Toya lifted it up and rolled it to the ground.

Oh, that's pretty thick. ....... Well, if we can get one, the rest will be easy.

He put his hand into the spot where Toya had pulled it out and removed three more blocks of stone.

Beneath them was a flat bedrock.

I used a pickaxe to scrape it away, set up a transition point, and put back the soil I had scraped away.

Now all we have to do is put it back.

"Gently, gently. If you drop it, you'll break the transfer point.

What?

After stopping Toya from trying to reattach it, I picked up one of the stone blocks and tried to use Light Weight.

...... Hmm, in this condition, it will work normally?

I put the lightened block back in place.

"Oh?　Oh?　...... I see. When you put it back, the effect wears off pretty quickly.

Maybe it's like the structure of a dungeon again. I'll put the rest back in.　Okay?

Oh, thank you.

Toya carefully put back the remaining three blocks, then tapped them lightly to flatten the surface.

"...... Phew. Now it looks like it's back together. What do you think?

The only difference is that there are a few pickaxe marks left on the blocks.

I can detect the transfer point without any ...... problem.

No problem. I'd love it if it stayed that way. ......

I'm fine too. I'd like it to last at least six months, if not a year.

If it doesn't, I'll probably have to quit exploring dungeons sooner or later. There's too much time wasted.

That's true. So far, there's no reason to enter except in the summer. ...... Well, let's move on, shall we?

Okay.

We have no use for this room once we've set up the transfer point, and it's too early to return.

We put away the pickaxe and went down the stairs to the sixth level,......, which was a bit unexpected.

What can I say? ...... To put it simply, it's a meat hierarchy.

First, the sixth level.

This is where the Flame Boar and Flame Peacock come in.

To put it simply, they are pork and poultry.

The Flame Boar is different from the Task Boar in that it is classified as a demon, and it is a rather nasty demon that breathes fire. ......, but through the nose.

The moment you see it, all of you will be able to say, "It's a nose! The moment we saw it, we all said, "A nose?

The shocking and hilarious sight made Toya's sword muscles go wild for a moment, so it must have had some effect, but his head fell right after that, so it was just a one-shot deal.

The flame breath also had a short range, less than two meters, so it wasn't too scary as long as you knew what you were doing.

The Flame Peacock is a bird demon with wings that look a bit like a peacock's. It attacks by flying its wings.

It is a little smaller than a normal peacock, and its wings are only about a meter long, but its wings are flaming red, and when it flies, its wings actually burn.

When it appears with the Flame Boar, its long-distance attack is a bit troublesome, but it has a weakness in that it cannot fly unless its wings are spread out, so it is too obvious to be called an attack motion.

Its wings can only be cut off with a sword, and its other attacks are limited to poking with its beak or scratching with its feet, making it very weak once you get close to it.

It is a mere duck to me and Natsuki, who have long arms. Its name is Peacock.

The meat you get is a very intense red even after removing the blood, which is a little strange for a bird, but that's about it.

The meat itself tastes like broiler meat, and Haruka and his friends thought it was very useful.

The two birds that appeared on the seventh level were the Frozen Jubois and the Armed Tail Grypt.

The Frozen Jubois is a 30-centimeter-long, bouncing rat.

It bounces around quickly, not only on the ground, but also on walls and ceilings.

Its movement is a bit annoying, but it's weak because it can kill you with one hit.

It's hard to hit with magic, but it's durable enough to be easily killed by Haruka or Yuki's attacks.

What makes it special is that it is frozen from the start.

When it is fighting, it moves flexibly, but the moment it dies, it becomes stiff.

You can't drain the blood out of it, and it's difficult to dismantle, so I thought, "Honestly, what do you think? But according to the book, this is a good idea.

But according to the book, this is a good idea. First of all, it is better to cook the fish as it is, without thawing it and draining the blood.

I tried it grilled, and it was indeed delicious.

It's not that it has no peculiarities, but it is very peculiar in a way, but that accentuates the taste. Unexpectedly.

No wonder they don't need to be bled.

And one more thing.

It seems that the frozen meat will keep for several days at room temperature if you don't cut it too badly.

Needless to say, this is very helpful for adventurers who don't have magic bags or can't use water magic to freeze meat.

Is the Armed Tail Grypt a mammal?

It is a missile-like creature with a hard armor-covered tail that curls up like a shrimp and flies towards you with its tail.

It is propelled by water from its mouth, and sometimes it sprays water directly at you, so it is not to be underestimated.

It is quite difficult to cut through it, but I was able to strike it with Toya's sword in one blow.

The drawback is that if you avoid the attack, it will fly far away from you.

Although it says it is edible, it is not as rare as the frozen jubois, so it is currently lying in the magic bag.